Detective Ikari
by Mister Cynical
Summary: He never wanted to go back to Japan. Funny how fate has a habit of kicking you in the balls. Now he's back, if only temporarilly. Can Japan and NERV survive the return of Ikari?
1. Chapter One: Los Angeles

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter One: Los Angeles

Spades was hurting. His sides ached and his left cheek felt like it had been smeared with acid. He was sure that his ribs weren't broken, but there was something strange about the pain. It felt kind of far away. It reminded Spades of his last trip to the emergency room. He had woken up hurting, but the pain was so distant from his mind. The pain in his cheek was closer to home. Over time it would swell and then fade away. Spades was sure that the same could not be said for the wounds he had inflicted on the cause of his pain.

"Drugs." To his ears it sounded like he was talking through a mouthful of cotton. 'Feels like it too.' His thoughts were strange. They seemed to slide from one topic to the next, never truly focusing and throughout all they seemed muffled. That was more disconcerting then the fact that he seemed to have only limited control over the mobility of his body. He had been lying on his back on an old cot that reminded him of the LAPD cells, staring at the ceiling fan over head.

The fan, Spades decided, was strange. It only had two blades instead of five. He had thought that all fans had five blades. They were much quieter. The blades of the fan overhead cut through the air with a sound he had heard before at an air show.

Some Vietnam vet had made it big after the war and he had bought an old Huey, Spades recognized it from movies, just like he had flown. He then flew from air show to air show giving rides to other vets. Spades had seen some of the vets. The looks on their faces when that old green helicopter swung in had startled him.

'Focus!' Spades threw all his effort into a single movement and smirked when his right foot wiggled. It felt normal, which would be slightly heavy for anyone else. The six inch ceramic knife hidden in his loafer's soul had been a bitch to get through security, but now he was happy he had brought it.

'Bitch.' There were many women he could blame for his current predicament. He could blame the blue-haired bitch, but there were others before her. He could blame his mother for being here of course. But he could think of one woman who was the most direct cause for him being here.

Chief was going to be in deep shit the next time he saw her.

It was she that insisted he go to his high school reunion. 'It'll be fun, she says,' Spades thought spitefully. He had been perfectly happy in Los Angeles. The only reason for his return to his native country of Japan was to shut her up.

Spades heard the click of a deadbolt retracting. Someone was coming into his cell. He felt his fingers curl and knuckles pop. Spades laid back and closed his eyes. Surprise would be a definite advantage.

In America he had a reputation. There wasn't a single person in Los Angeles, on either side of the law, stupid enough to disrespect him. It was time that he showed the people of Japan; no, the people of NERV, how he had gained the reputation. They were going to learn a very simple lesson with a high tuition price.

No one fucked with Spades Ikari.

(:Four Days Before:)

Amber Young pushed the door to her office open and stared at the man sitting behind her desk and using her computer. "What are you doing Spades?"

"Taking care of some business Chief," the dark-haired man explained without looking up.

"Why are you using my computer?" Amber pressed, setting down the bag she had been carrying.

"Because Helen is using hers," Spades replied simply. Amber glanced to her left and saw her secretary sitting behind her desk and working on her computer. She glanced up and tugged her headphones off.

"What?"

"Nothing," Amber answered. She glanced at her watch. It was five in the mourning, her normal time to open the office officially for business. Of course their line of work really didn't have any set hours. "Where's you partner?"

"The hospital," Spades answered. "His ulcer started up again last night."

"What did you do to him?" Amber asked in exasperating as she sat on her desk and glanced at the computer's screen. Spades was filling out an insurance report. "That's a bad sign, right?"

"Yeah," Spades answered, running his hand over his carefully gelled back hair, making sure not a single strand was out of place. "We were on the stakeout from midnight to three following Stephen Pearl. We caught him with his piece of jailbait and got a few pictures for the misses."

"Jailbait?"

"Maybe a year or two too old," Spades replied. "Mark managed to make an ass of himself by staring too long with the camera exposed and the old man saw us. He pulled out a gun. . ."

"Isn't he eighty?" Amber asked.

"Seventy-eight," Spades corrected. "He pulled a gun and fired a few shots. I put the Chrysler in reverse and gunned it. We got clear and I turned us around the right way."

"How fast exactly did you go in reverse?" Amber asked.

"Sixty-two," Spades answered. "And before you ask, yes I swung the car around without stopping."

"I see," Amber said. She knew that Spades' driving could quite easily give a person an ulcer. 'Or agitate the one he already gave them,' she added silently. "So what's with the report?"

"He shot my car." Amber leaned forward and saw a muscle in the corner of one of Spades' droopy, half-open eyes twitching. Only two things ever upset him; one of them was his car. "I'm adding the corresponding hike in my insurance rates to my business expenses."

"God damn it," Amber grumbled as she stood up and moved to the mail slot in the front door. She tugged the envelopes out and glanced at them. "One from your dad."

"You know what to look for." Amber opened the letter and glanced at the words. Her Japanese was shoddy, but Spades had taught her the words to look for.

"He's still alive."

"File it." Amber tossed the letter into the paper shredder sitting on the waste paper basket. She found another letter addressed to her employee. He paid quite a bit to keep his address a secret, so naturally all his junk mail came to the office.

"Another one."

"File it."

"It's not from your dad," Amber argued.

"Whatever."

"Aren't you curious?" Amber demanded.

"There is no one in Japan that I want to hear from," Spades answered. "Actually there's no one outside of Los Angeles that I want to hear from in particular." Amber opened the letter and glanced through the words. She felt a smirk starting to form on her lips.

"Dear Mister Shinji Ikari," she read. "Your name is Shinji?"

"Well it's not Spades," Spades replied.

"Still, what kind of name is Shinji?" Amber asked.

"A Japanese one," Spades answered. Amber hated how easily he could come up with sarcastic and witty retorts to her every question. 'One of his more endearing traits,' she thought sarcastically. She turned back to the letter.

"Can you believe it's been ten years since you proudly strode the halls of this fine learning establishment? Yada, yada, yada. Blah, blah, blah. You are cordially invited to the reunion of the class of 2018." She watched as Spades' droopy, tired-looking eyes looked up from the computer screen and stared at her over the rims of his reading glasses and the top of the monitor. Amber grinned at him. He looked back down, his face never loosing its unreadable blank look.

"No way in hell."

(:ii:)

Spades stifled a yawn and stood up. He was a good driver; it was everyone else that caused damage to his car. Why the hell couldn't his insurance company see that? He slipped his reading glasses off and stuck them in his pocket. "I'm going to go get breakfast."

"Already brought it!" Amber exclaimed as she held out the bag she had been carrying. Spades stared at it skeptically. "Krispy Kreme," the woman sang temptingly.

"Sold." Spades sat down. Amber laughed and fished a glazed doughnut out of bag. She tossed it to him and went to go turn on the coffee machine sitting on the far side of the office. Spades bit into the doughnut and leaned back in his seat. He loved doughnuts.

"So you have the proof Misses Pearl wanted?" Amber asked as she returned and sat on the desk again. Spades nodded. "I'll give her a call at a more civilized hour."

"Alright."

"Maybe you should do it," Amber began, her voice moving towards a more teasing tone. "I think she was quite taken with you." She smirked and leaned closer, her face inches from his. "Not that I can blame her," she added, running a finger over Spades' chin. "You need to shave." Her eyes moved to the scar entwined with his left eyebrow and she watched as it cocked upwards.

"You're staring."

"I like this scar," Amber explained as she touched the healed wound. It was the visible mark where his mysterious past ended and their shared past began.

"You. . .are a sadist," Spades commented as he ate another doughnut. His eyebrow, the same color as his meticulously neat hair, lowered again.

"Only for you," Amber replied teasingly.

"I'm not wearing my headphones now." Amber leapt back and almost fell off the desk.

"Doughnut?" Spades asked, still annoyingly, infuriatingly calm.

"Yes please," Helen Christianson answered. Spades grabbed a doughnut and tossed it to her. "So you have a high school reunion?" she asked.

"How long were you listening to us?" Amber asked.

"Long enough," Helen answered. She turned back to Spades. "I knew you were old, even older then Chief, but I didn't know you were that old."

"I do have a doctor's degree," Spades commented. "I have yet to meet a man with doctor's degree in his early twenties."

"You could have been one of those teenage geniuses," Helen argued. Spades stared at her. Arguing with the young secretary was rather fun. He'd take the bait.

"Well, I realize that I was educated by the Japanese educational system, but that doesn't quite make me a genius compared to you Americans."

"I'm Canadian," Helen deadpanned.

"Touché." Spades bit into another doughnut. The door opened and a man in a long, dripping trench coat stepped into the office. He pulled off his black fedora and tried to shake the water off it before hanging it up on the coat rack.

"I smell Krispy Kreme."

"What is with you private detectives and doughnuts?" Helen asked.

"Don't forget coffee," Tim Rogers murmured as he picked up a doughnut.

"Mustn't forget coffee," Spades agreed.

"Where's Mark?" Tim asked.

"Hospital," Spades replied.

"Again?" Tim asked, exasperation in his voice. "I was your partner for three years and I only went to the hospital twice."

"Weak constitution," Spades said with a shrug. "So when's this reunion?" Amber glanced down at the letter and frowned.

"It's in a couple of days," she replied. "It would have been nice to have a little more warning."

"Huh," Spades grunted. It was probably because they couldn't find him. It was almost certain that everything would have been better if they hadn't.

(:ii:)

Amber stared at her employees and waited for them to be seated. They were an odd group, but they had the skills. "Alright!" she called loudly. "We have a couple of cases cleared." She looked around at the ten men. "Spades, Mark, Tim, and Pablo all finished their cases, so they're free to help." She glanced at two more men. "What's the progress on the missing girl case?"

"We've got nothing," Conrad Harris answered. "We've just about finished up with our legal information sources."

"Start hitting the illegal ones," Amber ordered. "I don't care what you have to do. Kick in some doors, scare the locals. . .get your damn knuckles bloody. I want this girl found, clear?"

"Yeah," Al Levine, Conrad's partner, answered. "Spades?"

"Yeah?"

"We need you to hit up your contacts," Al explained. "You know the ones."

"I do," Spades replied. "I'll talk to them after we're dismissed and call you."

"Good," Amber announced. "I want all of you to keep your eyes open. If you find anything out, call in to Helen. She'll take care of making sure the information gets around." Amber read off the rest of the cases and dismissed her men. She watched as one of them stood up picked up a worn brown fedora. She set her mind on her goal and moved to talk to him. "Spades?"

"Yeah?" the private detective asked as he pulled on a dark trench coat.

"You need company?"

"You know where I'm going?" Spades asked. Amber nodded. "You're the boss Chief."

(:ii:)

"How long have we known each other?"

"Almost six years," Spades answered. Amber whistled and leaned back in her seat. That was some time. She had met the older man back in college before she had ever dreamed of opening a private investigations firm. "Why are you here? You hate the men I talk to."

"I don't like them," Amber corrected softly, "and I don't like you talking to them. They're dangerous people."

"So am I," Spades replied. Amber glanced out the window and watched as Los Angeles whipped by. "You aren't here to preach the morality of my connections. Why did you want to come along?"

"I wanted to talk about your class reunion," Amber explained. "I really think it would be good for you if you went. You might have fun."

"Why?" Amber frowned. She knew that no matter what her reasons were, Spades would undoubtedly have something to back up his own and probably opposite position. Perks of being a genius.

"I just think you'd be happier if you confronted your past instead of running from it," she answered finally.

"I'm not running anywhere and I'm not hiding." The tone of his voice was strange, different from his normal doctor-to-patient tone. He sounded like he was bordering on pissed off. "I'm here and they know that. They want to talk to me then they come here and do it to my face."

"I see," Amber said peaceably. Apparently Spades did not like being accused of running away.

"And what makes you think I'm not happy?" Spades continued.

"Well you refuse to answer any letters from your father unless they're about his funeral," Amber pointed out.

"A lot of people have bad relationships with their fathers," Spades commented.

"Remember that time we got drunk and I asked you why you threw out letters that weren't about you father's death?" Amber asked. Spades nodded. "You remember what you told me?"

"Something along the lines of wanting to attend the funeral service and piss on his grave."

"I think it was do a gig on his grave," Amber corrected. She shrugged. "Listen."

"Alright."

"I don't know what happened in your past and I don't care," Amber stated simply. "Something bad happened and you don't want to confront it. You may not be running from it, but you are avoiding it."

"Keep going."

"I just think that you may be able to resolve some of these issues if you go," Amber finished. It wasn't her best delivery, but she was proud none the less. It was hard delivering a persuasive argument when there had been no time to practice, or even arrange one's thoughts. "If all else fails you can just go and laugh at your class mates who died." One of Spades' eyebrows cocked upwards slightly.

"Interesting."

"It's why my dad keeps going to his class reunions," Amber explained. "I hate most of my classmates, so it's probably why I'll go to mine when it comes up."

"And to flaunt to all the women that you have ten men at your beck and call," Spades added helpfully.

"That too," Amber admitted. "I'm thinking Pablo, Mike, and Al can escort me in and then I'll trade you guys off every half hour or so."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. This is the product of watching too much classic Humphrey Bogart detective movies. You know the ones, probably. If you might have guessed this was also inspired by a movie called Grosse Pointe Blank. It's a great flick. I think there's a name for a story that starts towards the end and goes back to tell the story.

Like I actually know any of that shit. I'm just a creative writer. I've heard that your first highs school reunion happens ten years after you graduate. I estimated that Shinji would graduate in 2018. If I'm wrong then don't bother telling me about it. That would make this story set in 2028 I guess.

This was just an intro. Things will be flushed out and explained, I hope, in later chapters.

P.S. For those with substandard I.Q.s: yes, Spades is Shinji and yes he is a doctor. Of what will probably be included in the next chapter.

P.P.S. For those hoping this weeks update with would be the new Lycanthrope I apologize. It's not quite ready, but it will be good to go soon. I didn't have anything else to load, so I decided that this would be a good place to start this story.


	2. Chapter Two: Bloody Knuckles

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Two: Bloody Knuckles

"We're here." Amber looked up as Spades' Chrysler pulled over onto the side of the road. "Maybe you should stay here."

"I'm coming in," Amber stated defiantly.

"You're the boss," Spades said as he climbed out of the car, the light rain pattering off the rim of his fedora. Amber climbed out as well and looked at the building they had parked in front of. It was a small Italian bistro; almost ridiculously stereotypical for the people they were meeting. "Do us both a favor and keep your mouth shut."

"I'm not that bad," Amber argued. Spades shrugged and opened the door, waiting expectantly for her to walk in. "And some say chivalry is dead."

"Do I have to ask you to wait in the car?" Amber frowned and stepped inside the rather cozy little restaurant. A man in a fancy suit immediately turned to face them.

"How can I help you?" he asked pleasantly.

"We're here to see Mister Giovanni," Spades replied. For a moment the waiter's smile faltered. He looked around nervously.

"I know he's here," Spades continued. "Go to his table and ask Johnny to come up here."

"Yes sir." The waiter disappeared quickly into the dining area of the bistro.

"Who's Johnny?" Amber asked.

"He's Mister Giovanni's main bodyguard," Spades explained. "When he asks for your weapon you give it to him, understand?"

"Yeah." The waiter returned with a large man in tow.

"Ah Spades," the man exclaimed as he seized Spades in a hug. "It's been a while."

"My boss doesn't like me conversing with the mob," Spades replied. The man chuckled. He turned and looked at Amber.

"And who is this lovely young lady?" he asked.

"This is my boss," Spades said. "Meet Amber Young."

"Ah," the man said brightly. "Finally I meet the woman who holds your leash." He chuckled as his joke. "You know the rules."

"Yeah," Spades answered. "You know the consequences for any harm befalling my snubbie." He tugged the bobbed and cut back Smith and Wesson from under his arm, lowering the hammer gently, and handed it to the man. Amber frowned and drew her Black Widow revolver from under her blouse.

"Good," the man exclaimed. "Now let's have some breakfast!"

(:ii:)

Spades followed the large Italian man through the restaurant and glanced back at Amber. She seemed rather intimidated by Johnny. That could be a problem. She tended to get hostile when intimidated. "Spades!"

"Hello Mister Giovanni." Spades watched as the large man stood and waddled around the table. He gripped Spades' arms tightly and kissed his cheeks. "It's good to see you."

"I can say the same for you," Spades replied politely. He glanced at the table. "Breakfast?"

"Yes," Giovanni replied. "Please join me." He glanced behind Spades. "But first, who is this vision of beauty?"

"This is my boss, Amber Young," Spades explained. "Amber, this is. . ."

"I know who he is," Amber cut in. Spades sighed.

"I apologize. . ."

"Think nothing of it," Giovanni interrupted as he returned to his seat. "I would expect the woman who commands you to have such fire." Spades nodded his thanks and reached down to pull out a chair for Amber. His hand hit another and he glanced down to see Johnny's. Both jerked their hands back. "My two gentlemen," Giovanni said jokingly. Amber just pulled out her own seat. Spades peeled off his trench coat and sat as well. He glanced at the other man's meal and frowned.

"Is that tofu?"

"Yes," Giovanni groaned in exasperation. "That quack doctor insists that my diet is killing my heart. Can you believe that? You're a doctor, aren't you?"

"My degree is in psychology," Spades replied quickly. He could almost see the cogs in Giovanni's head turning.

"Oh well," the man mumbled as he took a bite of what was on his plate. "What is it you need? Face it, you only come here when you need information."

"You shouldn't have any trouble with this," Spades commented soothingly. "I'm looking for a missing girl. She's nineteen years old of Mexican descent."

"Mm," Giovanni hummed. "Many girls go missing in this city. Have there been ransom demands?"

"No," Spades answered. "That points to some less then desirable possibilities."

"I haven't heard anything," Giovanni replied finally. "If I had to guess then I would say that you should try the DC Gang."

"DC gang?" Spades repeated.

"A group of sadistic children who want to be American gangsters," Giovanni explained. "They're nothing but common hoodlums and pushers who watched too much MTV 2. If you find them and they don't have the girl I'd appreciate you telling me where they are. They've done certain things to. . .annoy the family."

"I see," Spades said as he stood up. "Thank you. Come on Chief. It's time to go."

"Right." Spades was relieved that she had decided to keep her mouth shut.

(:ii:)

"That's right," Amber confirmed. "Their name is the DC gang."

"You know what that stands for?" Helen asked.

"Dead Corpses if we find out they have the girl," Spades commented smoothly as he tugged a pack of Gold and Milds from his pocket. He pulled one out and held it between his lips. He tugged out a match from his trench coat and lit it between the tips of his thumb and middle finger.

"No," Amber answered.

"I'll get the word out," Helen replied.

"Good." Amber flipped her phone shut and slipped it into her pocket.

"Turn on the radio," Spades said as he climbed into the car, the sweet smell of the pipe tobacco cigar following him. "Channel eight." Amber leaned down and twisted the dial on the old CB radio.

"Do you think these DC guys are really involved?" Amber asked quietly. Sometimes she just couldn't understand why humans were so horrible to each other.

"It's the only lead we have," Spades answered. "Of course Giovanni could just want to hassle the competition." Amber's jaw dropped.

"Would he really. . ."

"Yeah," Spades interrupted. "Don't let his nice guy act fool you. He's the head of the mob in all of California. He didn't get there by smiling and complimenting people."

"I see." Amber had actually been thrown off by the man's attitude.

"Never underestimate man's natural affinity for evil."

"You're just such an uplifting person," Amber grumbled. "Besides, aren't you a doctor? I didn't think doctors believed in good or evil."

"We believe in facts," Spades muttered quietly as he tugged out the ashtray and tapped his cigar on the edge. "The facts are just too plentiful to disapprove evil in my opinion."

"So what does the hotshot psychiatrist think is the answer to evil?" Amber asked teasingly. "You have a theory, right?"

"Of course I do," Spades answered. "We need to lobotomize every human on the planet." Amber hated situations like this. It was always impossible to tell if he was joking or not.

"Like I said," Amber commented dryly, "you're such an uplifting person."

(:ii:)

Spades pulled to a stop and stared at the hospital through the windshield of the Chrysler. "There he is."

"I see him," Amber replied. She rolled down the window. "Hey Pussy!" Spades stared at his boss. "What?"

"Please don't yell such things from my car," Spades managed through clenched teeth.

"Well he is a wimp," Amber said as she sat back down in her seat and rolled her window up. "You drive me around all the time and I've never had stress-related health issues." Spades sighed and opened his door. He stepped out and shut the door. His partner stopped on the other side. At least it had stopped raining.

"How you feel?"

"Like shit," Mark Anderson grumbled. "What the hell is Chief doing here?"

"Trying to convince me to go back to Japan for a high school reunion," Spades explained as he leaned on the roof of the car. "She thinks I'm repressing my emotions or something."

"An emotional guy like you?" Mark asked dryly. "That's just ridiculous Spades."

"That's what I say," Spades replied. "Our case is over so we're helping Al and Conrad with the missing girl."

"I can deal with that," Mark replied. "You have a lead?"

"Possible suspects calling themselves the DC gang," Spades answered. "Course Giovanni might just be using us as cheap hit men."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Mark grumbled as he opened the back door. "We really should start charging him."

"Yeah." Spades opened his own door and climbed in.

"Charging who for what?" Amber asked.

"Never you mind," Mark growled. "Anyone ever teach you not to listen in on other people?"

"Yeah," Amber replied. "Never helped."

"Why am I not surprised?" Spades deadpanned.

(:ii:)

"So you've heard of these guys?" Spades asked as he stared at the skinny man in front of him.

"That's right," Harry replied. "I know where their pushers hang out. What's it worth to you?" Spades sighed and glanced at Mark.

"Your turn to take care of the tweaker."

"Yeah," Mark replied as he popped his knuckles. In a flash he had grabbed the man by his collar and pinned him to the alley way wall behind him. "It's worth your few remaining teeth. How does that sound?"

"Good deal," Harry squeaked.

"He's getting better," Spades commented. "We didn't even have to pull out the pliers or pistol whip him this time."

"Yeah," Mark agreed. "So where are they?"

"Their pushers hang out around the old movie theatre in the slums," Harry answered quickly. Mark released him and brushed the dirt off the man's shoulders.

"Thanks Harry. It's always a pleasure doing business with you." Spades watched as the man ran off. "So you want to do the good cop bad cop thing when we find one of these guys?"

"We need to work on that," Spades replied. "I have a difficult time being the bad cop after you break somebody's fingers."

"No you don't," Mark argued.

"Well, if I try to be the bad cop after that people tend to pass out," Spades stated. "Can't get answers out of someone who can't respond."

"That I'll believe."

"Christ. You two are nothing more then thugs." Spades turned and saw Amber leaning against the wall.

"We told you to wait in the car."

"I didn't feel like it," Amber growled. "Is this what I pay you two to do?"

"Kick in some doors, scare the locals, get your damn knuckles bloody," Spades replied. "Your words Chief." Amber glared at him, obviously fuming with impotent rage. "You hire us to get answers. We get them. . .always."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. This story is actually kind of fun to right. I mean, it's always fun, but I get to use a lot of jokes that I have in my head. This chapter didn't really flush out any history, but it did introduce Spades' partner. Well. . .that's an accomplishment I guess. One less thing to do anyway.


	3. Chapter Three: Deal

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Three: Deal

"Spades?" Spades picked up his CB radio's handset and brought it to his mouth.

"Tell me something good Mike."

"We found a pusher from the DC gang," Michael Hendrix stated. "Good news?"

"It's starting to look that way," Spades replied. "You sit him down and have a little talk?"

"Are they as bad as you?" Amber growled from the back seat. Spades ignored her.

"Yeah," Mike answered. "Freddie had a nice long talk with the guy. He was eager to help."

"Ask if he knew anything," Mark ordered.

"He know anything about the girl?" Spades asked.

"He's a low level wannabe player," Mike answered. "He didn't know but three things and the first two were jack and shit."

"The third?"

"Location of the DC gang's HQ," Mike answered. "They're based out of a warehouse in the old harbor. We're heading over there now. We'd be much obliged if you and Mark joined us."

"We're on our way," Spades replied. "Who else is going to be there?"

"Conrad and Al," Mike replied. "It's their damn case of course. We also got in touch with Tim and Pablo."

"You find anything that would explain why the hell they would abduct a woman?" Spades asked.

"Yeah," Mike answered. "These guys have already moved in on the drug scene in a big way and now they want to get in on the prostitution scene."

"No wonder Giovanni wants then dead," Mark commented. Spades nodded.

"He's. . ." Amber began.

"No," Spades interrupted. "He hates prostitution. He's the reason why organized prostitution and pimping are rare around here. If a ring gets too big then Giovanni sends someone to take care of them."

"Usually your buddy Johnny," Mark commented. Spades just shrugged. As long as he wasn't hired to do something about the mob, he really didn't care.

"Sounds like they're trying to get into that old school Japanese pimping," Mark commented. "Women as slaves and all."

"It'd be just terrible if your door came open while taking a sharp left turn," Spades growled.

(:ii:)

"I'm serious," Amber growled. "You should go. You really might have fun."

"You're like the annoying little sister I never had." Amber glared at the back of Spades' head.

"What would you know about a sister?" she muttered.

"Oh," Mark chimed in. "Making cheap shots about his family. Be careful Chief, you're sinking to our level."

"She's right," Spades added. "I never had a little sister, I'm only guessing. Am I right by the way?"

"Yeah," Mark replied. "She's exactly like my annoying little sister."

"Except I control your paycheck," Amber hissed. Now she was mad at herself for taking a shot at Spades' family. Everyone knew that he had a bad family life.

"How is your sister by the way?" Spades asked.

"Dating another asshole," Mark growled. "You helping with this one too?"

"Sure."

"You should ask her out," Mark commented. "I think she was digging you when you two met."

"What's the ulterior motive?" Spades asked.

"I figured you'd have the professional courtesy not to try anything funny with a co-worker's sister," Mark explained.

"Smart," Spades commented.

"There's Mike," Mark announced. The Chrysler pulled over and Amber climbed out. The detective was leaning against the hood of his black Chevy sedan smoking.

"Afternoon Chief."

"Good afternoon," Amber replied.

"Where's the warehouse?" Spades asked.

"It's down that way," Mike answered, nodding his head towards a row of buildings. "Freddie's casing the building right now from one across from it."

"Was casing." Amber turned and saw the tall mustached man walking towards them. He un-slung the large sniper rifle from his back and folded the stock. He tucked the weapon into the trunk of the Chevy. "I didn't see hide nor hair of the girl."

"How was your view?" Mike asked.

"Piss poor," Freddie Xavier responded. "Those paranoid little dick heads blacked out the windows. If I had a thermal scope and a fifty I'd show them just what that adds up to."

"Now, now," Amber spoke up. "You know the rules. No random killing."

"When did she get here?" Freddie asked. Amber glared up at the man. "Didn't see you down there Chief."

"Good to know you guys don't just insult me when I'm not around," Amber managed through clenched teeth.

"She really is less cute when the vein in her forehead starts throbbing," Mark noted.

"I told you," Spades replied as he tugged out a crumbled pack of Gold and Milds. He flicked his wrist and took the cigar that had popped up. After fumbling in the pocket of his coat for a moment he pulled out a match. Amber winced as he lit the match by running the head along his jaw. He brought the flame to the tip of the Gold and Mild and took a long draw.

"You're all just trying to make sure that I never come with you guys again," Amber accused.

"Pretty much," Mark replied. Amber glared at him.

(:ii:)

"So what do you think?" Spades asked as he stared at the warehouse. True to Freddie's word, almost ever window had been painted over.

"I think we're going in," Freddie answered.

"Second," Mike voiced.

"Third," Mark added. "We're heading in. Legal or not? I'm sure Giovanni would be happy to clean this up."

"Try and keep it legal," Spades ordered as he lowered his binoculars. Too much of the job was politics anymore. So much worry about the rights of the criminals that people forgot they were criminals. "At least pretend like you want to capture them alive and not torture them."

"Well goody. A chance to test my acting skills," Freddie replied. "Am I staying up here for support?"

"You're the tactician," Mark replied.

"I'm staying here," Freddie stated. "Too bad I don't have my fifty."

"It's in the backseat," Mike replied. "You just got it back from that gunsmith and left it there, remember?"

"Uh. . ."

"Don't you bother keeping track of your anti-tank rifles?" Mike demanded.

"Of course I do." Spades sighed as they began to bicker. He tugged his walky talky out of his pocket and brought it to his mouth.

"Anyone else here yet?"

"Tim and Pablo just pulled up," Amber reported. "Where the hell are Conrad and Al? This is their damn case."

"They'll be here," Spades answered. "I'm heading back to the cars to get a long gun." He walked to the ladder leading from the ground to the roof of the warehouse and swung himself out onto it, black gloves squealing against metal as he slid down. He hit the ground and started walking towards the cars. He immediately recognized the four men standing near the vehicles. "About time you two showed up."

"We were on the other side of the damned city," Conrad replied. "Got sidetracked by your dear friend Giovanni. Think this might be another hoax?"

"These people need to be razed one way or another," Spades stated. He opened the trunk of his Chrysler hunted through the various weapons tucked away inside. "Non-lethal or other?" Never hurt to get a second opinion.

"The beanbags pack a bigger punch then our rifles," Al answered. "I got my hands on some of the stuff they're pushing. It looks like it packs a punch too, so we want something that will knock them down the hardest. I've seen coked out idiots take too many rounds from an M16 for me to want to carry one."

"Melody can take them down easy," Spades stated.

"Cops won't be on our ass either, always a plus." He had been a SWAT team member for more then twenty years, so Spades had no trouble trusting him.

"Non-lethal it is," Spades muttered as he tugged the two old Winchester shotguns and several other items out of his trunk. He slammed the hood and set the tools down. He spilled a box of flexible baton shells across the hood and began feeding them into his Winchester. "You get any background on these guys?" Spades pumped the shotgun's handle, cycling a shell into the chamber. He slipped another shell into the magazine and set the weapon down.

"Not much," Pablo stated. "They're keeping their history to themselves."

"What about MO?" Spades asked as he tugged off his shoulder holster with his beloved snubby and wrapped the cartridge-studded belt with the little revolver's older sister on it around his hips. He drew Melody and swung the gate down so he could slide the big old .45 Colt rounds into the revolver's chambers.

"They've been pushing pretty hard," Tim answered. "We found out that these assholes aren't your everyday wannabes. They've muscled in on drug trade big time. They've got to have a supplier somewhere and people like that tend to pack our dear friend Mister Kalashnikov's toy."

"Fucking AK-47s," Spades agreed as he holstered Melody and pulled on one of the bulletproof vests he carried in his trunk. "Where do you think they're getting it from?"

"South America," Tim answered. "You get a ledger of some kind and the CIA will owe us a big one."

"I don't trust those bastards to pay their debts," Pablo Melendez growled. "We find anything then we go to the FBI. I was CIA for a long time so trust me on this one

"Always," Spades agreed as he loaded the second shotgun. "We'll float anything we find to the LAPD and the FBI. Let them take care of the international drug rings. No money for us in that shit anyway."

"The LAPD might even forgive us for the shit we've been pulling all these years," Conrad added.

"Yeah right," Spades snorted as he buckled his vest's clasps under his arms and tossed his trench coat into the Chrysler's open back door. "We'd have to give them this shit and all the criminals from the FBI's most wanted list."

(:ii:)

Spades watched as Al pushed the door opened and carefully stepped in. He kept his shotgun tight to his shoulder and edged slowly like the experienced soldier he was. Spades was right behind him. They didn't know how many people were inside so a stealthier approach was better then guns blazing.

Spades looked around the warehouse and was impressed. In his mind he had almost been expecting a rat nest of some kind. This place was orderly and neat. Thousands of crates lay in orderly rows. He wondered what was in those boxes.

One loud burst sounded in front of him and Spades saw a man go down, probably stunned by the impact. Poor him. It would have hurt less if the blow had knocked him out. Al slammed the butt of his shotgun into the man's skull, guaranteeing he would wake up with the worst hangover ever.

There wasn't a peep from anyone else inside the warehouse. That was funny. The sound of a shotgun cycling could make a grown man piss himself. Spades had seen it happened before. "Spades!" He pressed his earpiece closer to his ear.

"What is it?"

"They're making a run for it!" Amber bellowed, making Spades wince slightly. "There are three of them getting into a car and they're carrying another one."

"Go," Al snapped. "We've got it here." Spades nodded and thrust his Winchester into Mark's arms as he sprinted out the door. He saw his Chrysler already running with Amber in the passenger seat and the driver side door open. Spades slid into the driver seat, one hand on Melody's grip to keep her from scratching his leather seats, and slammed the door shut.

"I expect for you to pay for whatever comes next."

"Don't make me regret that part of your contract," Amber growled.

"Course not," Spades replied, his hand resting on the gearshift. He slammed it into reverse and hit the gas. The purr of the idling Chrysler's modified 5.7-liter Hemi V8 became a roar.

(:ii:)

'I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die.' Amber had driven with Spades many times. Sadly none of those times had been urgent and now she was beginning to wish she had never come. "Can you slow down?"

"I'll slow down when we catch up," Spades grunted. The Chrysler shuddered slightly as he shifted to a higher gear. Amber glanced through the windshield at the speeding car ahead of them. There was simply no way that they could outrun Spades. "Go under the seat and get the rifle."

"What?"

"There's a rifle under the seat," Spades repeated. "You can use a Kel-Tec right?"

"Yeah," Amber answered as she pulled the folding rifle out from under the seat. It was one of the smaller rifles with a barrel not even ten inches long. She quickly unfolded the weapon, pushed a magazine into the receiver and tugged back the charging handle. "What are you going to do?"

"Pit," Spades answered. It was a simple answer. Amber wouldn't have expected more. She looked up and saw that they were now riding the bumper of the other car. "I just hope it doesn't go sideways and flip."

"What?"

"You're paying for damage to my car and my insurance, right?" Count on Spades to know what truly mattered in the end.

"Yeah," Amber replied nervously. "Don't go overboard."

"Never," Spades muttered. "Hold on." Amber watched as Spades tried to move up alongside the other vehicle. They immediately cut him off. "Fuck." The Chrysler's bumper slammed into the other car's bumper and it fishtailed. The driver immediately got control. "He's good."

"You're better," Amber replied. "Er. . .right?"

"Of course I am." Spades came alongside the car and the front right of the Chrysler slammed into the other car's rear left. This time the other car went sideways and skidded across the front of the Chrysler. It came to a screeching halt and Spades slammed on his brakes, the Chrysler spinning one hundred and eighty degrees before coming to a stop. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Amber managed. "You?"

"Aces. Give me that." Spades snatched up the rifle and climbed out of the car. "Don't move!" Amber opened the glove compartment and pulled out the Colt .45 auto Spades kept as a backup and several plastic safety cuffs. She checked the pistol and climbed out of the car as well. The three men she had seen run out of the warehouse had all climbed out of the car and were lying face down. "Cuff em Chief."

"Right," Amber answered. She tucked the heavy semi-auto pistol into her waistband and pulled out the safety cuffs. She quickly bound their wrists and moved to check the car. A young woman was huddled in the backseat. "Are you Maria Sanchez?"

"How's she look?" Spades called. Amber eyed the bruises on the woman's bare arms and around her neck.

"Bad," she answered, turning to face Spades. The man was standing as calm-faced as ever, meticulous hair still neat and clean and eyes as unreadable as ever. Leather clad fingers curled and Amber knew what was coming.

"Take this and turn around," Spades ordered, handing the rifle to her stock first. Amber took it and turned around, trying to ignore the sounds of flesh hitting flesh and the cries of pain.

(:ii:)

"We got her." Mark snatched up his walky talky.

"Spades?"

"Of course," the man answered flatly.

"How bad?"

"Looks like rape and assault," Spades answered. "She's terrified of me. Amber's checking her over to see how severe her injuries are."

"I see." Mark lowered the hand-held radio and took a deep breath. He had truly begun to hate human beings. "What about the three guys?"

"They're alive," Spades answered, "pretty banged up from the crash though."

"Right."

"How about you guys?" Spades asked. Mark looked around and watched as Al broke open another crate. He held up another bag.

"Heroin," Mark stated. "So much heroin that the LAPD is actually going to love us. They're on the way."

"Did you ask for EMTs?" Spades asked.

"Uh huh," Mark answered. "How far away did you guys get before you brought them down?"

"About four miles strait north," Spades answered. "Any casualties on your end?"

"No one of any importance was hurt."

"Hey!" Conrad snapped.

"Well Conrad busted a knuckle of some guy's face," Mark added. "Like I said, no one of any importance."

"You do know that Conrad bench presses your body weight for fun, right?" Spades asked. Mark frowned. He hadn't really though of that.

"Right."

(:ii:)

Amber leaned against the Chrysler's crippled bumper and watched as Spades set the CB handset down and climbed out of the car. He walked to stand beside her and leaned back too. Amber glanced at the blood staining his black leather gloves and had to look away. "I really want you out of this city Spades. It's killing you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Spades replied as he shrugged off his bulletproof vest. He set the article on the hood of his car and fished out his pack of Gold and Milds. He flicked his wrist and took the one that popped out of the carton between his lips. "Have a light? My matches are in my coat."

"Yeah." Amber pulled her lighter out of her pocket and flicked it open. Spades nodded his thanks and leaned forward. He leaned back and inhaled, the tip of the cigar flaring. "You need a break from this. All you ever do is work."

"I like to work."

"You don't have any friends outside the other guys."

"I don't need any more."

"You don't even have a romantic relationship."

"Neither do you." Amber glared at the man.

"I'm only twenty-five," she growled. "You're almost thirty."

"I'm not even five years older then you," Spades commented.

"I hate what's been happening to you," Amber stated flatly. "Back when we were in college you were an asshole and you were cynical, but now. . .the things I've seen you do," she paused to collect her thoughts. "I've seen you kill people with your bare hands. That started here in Los Angeles and I want you to get out, even if it's only for a short time."

"Here are my terms," Spades replied. "You find some way of getting my snubbie into Japan. . ."

"No problem."

". . .legally," Spades finished. Amber flinched at that. "And you come with me. Maybe you'll understand if you see for yourself."

"Deal," Amber replied quickly. She glanced back at the woman lying shivered in the back seat of the Chrysler, Spades' trench coat draped over her form. "Maybe I could use a vacation too."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Oh come on. You knew he was going to end up going.


	4. Chapter Four: Travel Preparations

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Four: Travel Preparations

"So Chief is going with Spades to Japan?" Al asked disbelievingly. "I thought he was gay."

"Spades?" Pablo asked. "I've never seen him even look at a man differently. What makes you think he'd be with one?"

"Well we all know that he dates women," Freddie pointed out.

"Have you ever actually followed one of his relationships?" Tim asked. "It's a twenty car pile up spread out over two weeks at the most."

"Yeah," Al agreed. "And he dates some sweet girls too. He'd have to be gay to drive them off. Hey Tim. You were his partner the longest. Does he like men?"

"No," Tim answered, not looking up from his magazine.

"So he likes women!" Al deduced.

"No," Tim answered. All was silent for a few minutes.

"So," Conrad began awkwardly. "What does he like?"

"I'd say he likes his job," Mark answered. "What do you think?"

"Got the nail on the head," Tim replied.

"What about all the times Chief's flirted with him?" Al demanded.

"Well that's Chief," Mark responded. "She'd flirt with a cadaver."

"What about the last Christmas umph!" Pablo spun and stared at the person that had clamped a hand over his mouth.

"What happens during the office Christmas party stays at the office Christmas party," Amber hissed. "Get it?" Pablo nodded submissively. "Good."

"Hey Chief. We were just talking about you," Al stated. "Well sort of, only not really."

"I heard," Amber growled. "I would like to go on record and state that I don't have a relationship with Spades; well, beyond a working one anyway."

"She doesn't have a relationship with anyone," Tim commented. Amber's cheeks burned red, probably not with embarrassment.

"I could get a boyfriend," she growled.

"It's not that hard for women," Mark commented. "Just open the window and yell free puss. . .ow!"

"There's a lady present," Spades commented.

"Thank you Spades," Amber said happily.

"She may not act or look like much of one, but she still counts." Amber began to look even more pissed off.

"You asshole!"

"How long have you been there?" Al asked nervously.

"Long enough," Spades replied.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Pablo asked.

"I had nothing to say," Spades answered.

"Well," Pablo began, "sorry for talking about your relationships like we did."

"Tim's right," Spades stated. "My relationships are a twenty car pile up and like any good car accident you're all invited to slow down and stare."

"Speaking of car accidents, don't you have to drop your Chrysler off? Tim asked. Spades checked his watch and nodded.

"Can you give me a lift back?"

"No problem." Pablo watched as the two men walked out.

"I'll bet you one hundred bucks that Spades is strait," he stated as soon as the door shut.

"You're on," Al growled.

"I'm in on that," Mark added. "Put me down for one hundred on him being strait."

"This is the second bet we have going on that guy," Pablo commented. Al frowned. He liked to think that he was in on all the bets going around the office.

"What's the first one for?"

"How Spades got his nickname," Mark explained. "Lowest allowed bet is two hundred."

"I'm in."

(:ii:)

"You again?"

"Yeah," Spades replied. "It's busted up pretty bad this time Mister Navarro." The mechanic groaned in disgust and exasperation.

"Whoever would even consider selling a man like you a vintage 2006 Chrysler SRT8 should be killed," Navarro growled.

"He was already dead," Spades explained. "I picked it up at an estate sale. The widow just wanted it gone."

"Lucky you," Navarro spat.

"Yeah." Navarro glared as he walked around the counter and outside. Spades noticed how he faltered when he saw the Chrysler.

"You're a barbarian."

"Yeah," Spades agreed. "Can you give me an estimate?"

"You don't even have an appointment," Navarro pointed out.

"You don't have any system for taking appointments."

"You're lucky I love classics," Navarro growled. "It'll be done in about two weeks and it will cost you."

"Spare no expense," Spades commented. "I'm not paying for it."

"Very well." Spades handed his keys to the man and turned towards Tim's Ford.

"Spare no expense," Tim commented.

"Like I said, I'm not paying for it." Spades tugged a Gold and Mild out of his pocket as he climbed into the car. "Am I a workaholic?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." Spades frowned and lit his cigar. He inhaled and exhaled a cloud of sweet-smelling smoke. "I know people who always drink are alcoholics. What's the name for people who always smoke?"

"Future lung cancer statistics," Tim replied.

"Mm." Spades took a long draw. "These are healthier then cigarettes."

"Bullshit."

"It's true," Spades argued. "Cigarettes have all those chemicals in them."

"Bullshit," Tim repeated, pulling his pipe from the center console.

"You delude yourself your way and I'll delude myself my way," Spades replied. "Hey, if I'm a future lung cancer statistic, then what are you?"

"Future tongue cancer statistic," Tim answered as filled the bowl with his favorite cherry tobacco and tapped it down. He checked his pockets and glanced up as Spades held out a lit match. "Thanks."

(:ii:)

"Don't you have cases to be on?" Amber demanded as she glared at the men loitering around her office. "Why can't you people be more like Lez and Geoff? They only show up for morning briefings."

"Because they're gay and make out in the back of their car," Pablo answered. Amber's mental activity ground to a halt and she stared. "You didn't know?"

"No." 'Would explain the way the backseat of their car smells.'

"Oh," Pablo replied. "Look on the bright side. They do get their cases solved."

"Yes they do," Amber agreed. "Now out! Go hit a bar or something." She watched as her employees filed out the door and leaned back in her chair.

"I have your plane tickets ready," Helen stated. The door opened and Spades stepped in.

"Why is everyone heading for the bar?"

"Because there aren't any cases right now and they were just hanging around here driving me crazy," Amber growled, daring the older man to argue with her.

"Fine," Spades replied as he stubbed out what was left of the Gold and Mild he had been smoking in the ashtray on Helen's desk.

"I've got the tickets," Helen repeated.

"Thanks," Spades replied. "When's the flight?"

"Seven in the morning," Helen replied. "You'll have to be up and at it by four or so to get through the security at LAX."

"I'm normally up around then," Amber replied. "What about you Spades?"

"I don't sleep," Spades answered as he walked over to the mini fridge and pulled out a wrapped Italian sub.

"Everybody needs at least eight hours of sleep a night," Helen commented.

"That's a general statistic," Spades replied. "Besides, humans can typically go about seventy-two hours before irreversible damage begins to occur to the major organs."

"One question."

"Yes?"

"How come you can leave food in there and no one takes it?" Amber asked. Spades unwrapped his sub and pulled what looked like a thin metal bar out of it.

"Because we don't have a dental plan."

(:ii:)

"I'm taking the rest of the afternoon off." Spades watched as Helen walked out of the office. He tugged out his cell phone and ran through the list of phone numbers. He found one and hit the call button before bringing the phone to his ear.

"Levine here," the man on the other end stated.

"Its Spades," Spades replied. "Helen's taking off," he checked his watch, "two hours early."

"New boyfriend?" Al asked.

"The signs are similar," Spades replied. "Have a look into it while I'm in Japan."

"You want us to save the talk with this new guy until you get back?" Al asked.

"Go ahead," Spades replied. "Just remember, we're not threatening. We're warning."

"Of course." Spades flipped his phone shut and stuck it back in his pocket. He glanced up and saw Amber staring at him.

"What?"

"Why do you guys go after every boyfriend she gets?" Amber asked.

"Because we've been around and know how men think," Spades answered. "She's young and doesn't understand how bad people can be to one another."

"You guys are just like overly protective older brothers," Amber grumbled. "What about that Billy guy? You talked with him and he broke up with her right after."

"We just told him that if we ever caught him fooling around or taking advantage of Helen we would take care of him and his family," Spades answered. "If he wasn't planning on fooling around or taking advantage of her then he wouldn't have had to worry."

"That makes a kind of twisted sense," Amber commented. "Although, maybe you should let her learn a few life lessons for herself."

"And have to put up with a moping secretary for a few weeks?" Spades asked.

"Good point I guess."

(:ii:)

Spades stared at the window in the wall of his apartment. There really wasn't anything else to do. He picked up the glass that had been balancing on the arm of his easy chair and brought it to his lips. Someone began pounding on his door.

"Fucking God pushers." Spades set the glass down and stood. He grabbed his snubbie from the shoulder holster that was dangling from his coat rack and glanced through the peephole in his door. 'Wonderful.' He undid the dozen or so locks on his door and opened it. "What's up Chief?"

"I just wanted to come by and talk," Amber answered.

"Alright," Spades replied. He stepped aside and let the woman into his apartment.

"Ugh," Amber grunted in disgust. "This place really reflects your personality Spades."

"Ordered and neat?" Spades guessed.

"More like empty," Amber corrected. "You need something to make this place look like someone actually lives here."

"I have everything I need," Spades said as he looked around his rather empty apartment.

"Whatever," Amber stated peaceably. Spades shrugged and sat down in his easy chair. Amber looked around and frowned as she realized that he had taken the only chair. She eyed a sturdy looking desk against the wall and leaned on it. "I just wanted to say that you really don't have to do this."

"We already have the tickets," Spades replied. "We might as well go through with this."

"We don't have to," Amber argued. "I know I pestered you into this and you don't want to do it."

"I really don't care," Spades replied. "Who knows? Like you said, it might be fun."

"Spades?"

"Yes?"

"Repeat that without cocking and de-cocking your snubbie," Amber ordered. Spades looked at his lap and watched as his thumb drew the hammer back, his finger squeezed the trigger, and his thumb gently lowered the hammer back into place. It had become a nervous tick ever since he had found how soothing the gentle clicking was. Of course it went against several rules of safe gun handling.

"Why?"

"Because ceasing those actions would make it seem less like you were planning on killing many people in Japan," Amber answered.

"Why would I want to make it seem like that?" Spades asked.

"You did ask to bring that thing just to try and delay me, right?" Amber pressed.

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Right," Amber drawled out.

"Question."

"Yes?"

"Why are you so interested in this?" Spades asked suspiciously.

"I already said," Amber began, "I think this will be good. . ."

"Cut the shit," Spades interrupted. Amber pouted.

"Well that's a big part," she stated. "I'm also a little intrigued."

"By what?"

"By the fact that you actually had a childhood," Amber replied. "I can't imagine you as a kid Spades." She glanced at the desk. Various bullets and equipment for loading bullets were scattered around. She knew that Spades hand-loaded the bullets he used in competitions and in his snubbie. She picked up the pack of Gold and Milds and glanced at Spades. He didn't bother reacting and she tugged one out, tucking it behind her ear for later. "Can I ask you a really personal question?"

"You're the boss Chief," Spades replied.

"You're not gay, right?"

"Would there be a problem if I was?" Spades asked.

"Of course not!"

"Then why do you need to know?" Spades asked.

"I. . .well. . .I was. . .I was just kind of. . .you know, curious," Amber managed to stutter. "So, you're not gay right?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Chapter four in the bag. The next chapter will probably see them finally reaching Japan.

P.S. Always be conniving, er careful, when sharing a mini fridge. I share one at work and nobody goes near my food anymore. Heh.


	5. Chapter Five: Flight

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Five: Flight

"Good morning Spades!" Spades stared at the woman in front of him and frowned.

"How much coffee have you had?"

"A bit," Amber admitted. "I had to stop by the office and Helen made me a big cup of that stuff she drinks."

"That stuff isn't healthy," Spades commented as he looked around the concourse.

"Probably not," Amber agreed. "She told me to tell you to have fun."

"I doubt it," Spades muttered as he sat down.

"So," Amber began, "who are we going to meet in Japan?"

"Hopefully no one," Spades answered. "I agreed to go to the reunion. That doesn't mean that I'm going to go visit those people."

"Would it kill you to ever call 'those people' your friends and family?" Amber asked.

"You never know," Spades replied. "Besides, they aren't my friends, nor are they my family."

"I gave you the chance to back out!" Amber snapped. "You refused, so buck up!"

"Buck up?" Spades repeated. "I haven't heard that in a while."

"Quit mocking me," Amber growled. She took a deep breath. "So who will you probably see at the reunion?"

"I don't know," Spades answered truthfully. "I probably won't recognize many people and hopefully they won't recognize me."

"Why wouldn't they recognize you?" Amber asked. "Do you dye your hair Spades? Colored contacts?"

"Everything else," Spades answered. "We have thirty minutes until they start boarding. I'm going to go get food."

(:ii:)

"He's coming back."

"Yes sir." Gendo Ikari stared at the report laid out on his desk. "We already have agents in place to intercept him at the airport and tail him."

"Good," Gendo stated. "Dismissed." The Section-2 agent saluted and walked out of the dark office.

"What are you planning Gendo?" the wizened voice of Kozo Fuyutsuki asked.

"We still have use for the boy," Gendo replied.

"Do you think he'll agree to anything?" Kozo asked. "He has quite happily ignored your demands for many years now."

"The time for giving him a choice is past," Gendo replied. "He will do as I tell him."

"You must be going senile."

(:ii:)

Amber looked around the plane nervously. "Something wrong?" Spades asked.

"No," Amber replied quickly. She saw one of Spades' eyebrows arch under the brim of his old brown fedora. "I'm terrified of flying, okay?"

"A new drama everyday with you," Spades commented. The engines got even louder and the plane jerked slightly as it began to move. "You need to get a manicure."

"What?" Amber glanced down and saw that she had seized Spades' hand, her nails digging into the soft leather of his gloves.

"Sorry." She quickly let go and watched as Spades flexed his fingers. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. I'm a tough guy, remember?" Spades asked.

"I forgot," Amber admitted. "I'm going to try to take a nap."

"Good," Spades replied. "You're less of a pain in my ass while you're asleep."

"Women don't like an honest men," Amber growled. She saw one of Spades' eyebrows cock upwards again. "I mean, women don't like a really honest. . .uh. . .I mean. . ."

"Go to sleep."

"Right."

(:Five and a Half Years Ago:)

"Who's that guy?" Amber stared at the young man as he climbed into the boxing ring.

"That's the guy from Japan," Michelle answered. "He's working on his Master's in psychology."

"What a fox."

"Don't bother," Michelle stated quickly. "He's gay."

"Are you sure?" Amber asked. "I mean, I've never seen a gay boxer."

"I'm pretty sure he's gay," Michael replied. "Everybody thinks he is."

"Why?"

"He turned down Angel, Penny, and Sugar earlier this week," Michelle answered. "He wasn't too nice about it either. Any guy who does that has to be gay."

"Aren't those the three girls who got into college on their backs?" Amber asked. Michelle nodded. "Maybe he likes women with brains then." She glanced to her right and frowned. "What?"

"You just say some of the cutest most naïve shit sometimes," Michelle commented. "Oh. Look at him compared to Anthony." Amber turned back to the fight.

"That can't be legal."

"Yeah," Michelle agreed. "Funny thing about Anthony, he's a lot faster then you would think someone his size could be." That was proven as Anthony lashed out with a right hook at blinding speed. He connected with the smaller man's head with enough force to make Amber's skull throb in sympathy. The smaller man rolled with the force of the blow and brought a similarly powerful blow into the side of Anthony's ribs. "Ouch."

"Shouldn't you be more worried about your boyfriend?" Amber demanded. "He could have broken ribs!"

"If they're broken he'll just have them set," Michelle stated dismissingly. "Besides, this is just a friendly fight. The ref will probably break them up."

"I hate violence," Amber grumbled. "Why did I agree to come to this?"

"Would it have anything to do with your lack of male company and the prospect of seeing two physically fit men getting sweaty?"

"I do not have a lack of male company," Amber growled.

"Lack of decent male company," Michelle corrected. Amber opened her mouth to argue, but was cut off. "I haven't seen Oscar in a while."

"He got a little grabby," Amber managed to grit out.

"What'd you do?"

"I demonstrated how a proper grab can dislocate a man's shoulder," Amber replied. "He decided to leave the cops out of it because he was too embarrassed to admit that a girl kicked his ass."

"And if he had tried to press charges then you would have gone back to the old standby," Michelle stated.

"What's the point of nice breasts, big eyes, and friends willing to provide an alibi if I'm not going to use them?" Amber asked. Michelle laughed and stood up.

"Fight's over, like I said," she explained. "Let's go get Anthony and we can go out to dinner." Amber frowned and eyed the smaller man.

"I'll pass," she stated.

"See you later then." Amber nodded to her friend and made her way down the empty bleachers towards the side of the ring. As she drew near she could hear the trainer talking to the smaller man.

"This is about six stitches," the trainer explained. "Jesus. I'll never figure out why you always pick the biggest guys to fight Spades."

"Nothing wrong with a challenge Jimmy," the smaller man stated calmly.

"A challenge is one thing," the trainer replied. "What you're doing is stacking the deck against yourself. I think you have company." The smaller man's narrowed eyes turned to stare at Amber.

"Hi."

"Hello," the man replied.

"I'm Amber Young," Amber stated. "I have a question."

"The name is Spades Ikari," the man replied. "And if your question has anything to do with a date then I'm just going to say no now it it's all the same to you."

"Actually," Amber began, feeling her eyebrow twitch a little, "I was wondering; are you brain dead, blind, or just stupid? Did you see the size of the other guy?" Spades' eyes widened slightly.

"I told you all American females weren't over sexed hussies," the trainer stated.

"You also told me Fuzzy Navels were non-alcoholic," Spades growled.

"I did? Wow. I was lying out my ass." The trainer turned to Amber. "There's a funny thing with Spades here. He has brains and he has guts, but they don't work too well at the same time."

"Bite me," Spades hissed. The trainer chuckled and began searching through his medical kit. Slowly, almost cautiously Spades extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Now that the asshole switch is in the off position I can say the same," Amber replied as she shook the man's hand.

(:Present:)

"Wake up." Amber jerked upright and looked around the plane.

"What's the matter?" she demanded.

"Easy," Spades replied. "Dinner is being served. I didn't know if you had trouble keeping food down on flights so I woke you up."

"Thanks." Amber dug the meal catalogue out of the seat in front of her and flipped it open. "I was just dreaming about the time we met."

"That was a while ago," Spades commented. "A little less then six years, right?"

"Yeah," Amber answered. "It was about six months after you came here and started to work on your Master's."

"Speaking of which, when are you going back to school to get yours?"

"Pretty soon," Amber replied. "I just need to get everything in the agency settled down first. I've only been in charge for a few years."

"That's understandable," Spades stated. "See anything you like on there?"

"A few things," Amber muttered absentmindedly. "What about you Spades?"

"Couple of things," Spades replied. "Speaking of your take over, how's the old man?"

"His cancer came back," Amber stated. "It isn't looking too good. I'm still trying to figure out how to tell the guys. Most of them worked under him for years. The only men who have only worked under me are you, Mark, and Pablo."

"You have all of our respect," Spades stated. "Don't doubt that. We'd do anything for you."

"Thanks Spades."

"After all, you are the annoying little sister most of us never had."

"I'm just going to start covering your mouth after you say something nice," Amber growled. "Everything with you is one step forward and two back. One compliment and two insults."

"You've known me for how many years and you're only now learning this?" Spades asked as he stared at his menu, frowned, and pulled out his reading glasses.

"You suck Spades."

"Does that statement have anything to do with your recent inquiries into my gender preference for a lover?"

"One more word and I dock your pay," Amber managed through her clenched jaw.

"Mm," Spades hummed dismissingly.

(:ii:)

Amber whimpered as a shudder ran through the plane. "You can talk again Spades. Say something soothing."

"Don't be such a pussy," Spades replied. Amber stared at him. "Well that's what my trainer used to tell me whenever I was nervous before a fight."

"Good advice. Real fatherly kind of guy, wasn't he?" Amber asked.

"Yeah." Amber nodded her understanding. Those two had been close. It had hit Spades hard when Jimmy had died. Amber frowned.

"Hey Spades?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to answer this if you don't want to," Amber began, "but I was wondering about when Jimmy died."

"Go ahead."

"Why was he gunned down?" Amber asked. The mystery surrounding the drive by shooting of Spades' trainer had terrified many students and the university had been forced to temporarily shut down because none of the students would leave their dorms.

"It was mistaken identity," Spades explained. "The Grays thought he was someone from another gang." Amber frowned. The Grays. That sounded familiar, but she couldn't figure out where she had heard it.

"Did the cops tell you?"

"No," Spades stated. "They gave up on the case. I asked one of the Grays myself."

"You asked one of them?" Amber repeated in disbelief. "He just told you?"

"Well I did torture him for a while," Spades stated. "In the end he told me everything and died." Amber's jaw dropped. The Grays! That had been a local gang that had been massacred. Thirty-three people had died and all sorts of racial shit had hit the fan when the cops couldn't produce a killer.

"You. . .you. . .you killed. . ."

"Yeah," Spades replied. "My first time. Beats a hat trick doesn't it?"

"You killed every single one?" Amber asked.

"Yep," Spades replied. "Used my old comp pistol. That was why I switched from 9mms to .45s."

"What?"

"You know those scars on my leg?"

"The one where it looks like someone hit you with a bed of nails?" Amber asked.

"More like a plank of nails," Spades corrected. "I put four 9mm rounds in his chest before I had to snap his neck." Spades stood up. "Plane landed."

"What?" Amber looked around and realized that the plane had stopped its movement. "Oh. . .uh. . .thanks Spades."

"No problem Chief."

"We're finally in Japan."

"Try not to get us deported," Spades commented. Amber glared at the man, trying to forget their previous conversation.

"You're more likely to get up deported!"

"Well of course," Spades agreed. "It's my goal for this trip."

"Whatever," Amber stated, exasperation prevalent in her voice. "Just try to avoid jail. I'm a master of American legal loop holes, not Japanese ones."

"Right."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. At least they're in Japan now. That was my goal for this chapter. Geez! I was gone three weeks with a buster computers, fucking HP, because of jackass repairmen, fucking Best Buy, and apparently nobody notices! I'm hurt people, real hurt.

Wanted, a person capable of reading and correcting grievous spelling and grammatical errors. Perks. Reading new stories and chapters before everyone else. Cons. Having bitchy e-mails sent to you by me if I get bitched at for grammar after you've proof read something. Send e-mails addressed to the e-mail address in the bio and do not review for the position..


	6. Chapter Six: Understanding

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Six: Understanding

Spades checked his watch and stared at the luggage carousel. "I want my snubbie."

"Relax Spades," Amber replied. "You know how airlines are."

"Unfortunately," Spades stated. Finally the lights began to flash and the carousel creaked into motion.

"I thought Japan was a safe place anyway," Amber commented.

"It's relatively safer than America I supposed," Spades replied, "but this isn't just Japan. This particular city is fairly dangerous for some people."

"What are you talking about?" Amber asked.

"A major United Nations operation runs out of this city," Spades explained. "The operation provides almost all the jobs there are."

"So?"

"The CO is you typical fascist dictator," Spades explained. "Secret police, disappearing enemies, secret agendas. That kind of shit. He's an idiot, but an idiot with power."

"An idiot, huh?"

"Someone needs to hold him down and beat some sense into him," Spades commented.

"That was your suggestion for Stalin, Castro, Hussein, and every other dictator," Amber commented.

"Some people just need to be taught humility and have a little fear put in them," Spades replied.

"Well you're the expert on instilling fear."

"Yeah."

"Ah," Amber commented. "So who is this nutcase?"

"Gendo Ikari."

"Ikari?" Amber repeated.

"That's right," Spades stated. "My male genetic donor."

"Why don't you ever call him your father?"

"I always thought the title of father relied more on emotion then genetics."

(:ii:)

"This is it." Amber frowned and glanced at the man next to her.

"What is this?"

"It's a Hyundai."

"It's a Jap trap."

"Says the Jap," Amber commented. "Besides, I'm pretty sure these things are made in Korea."

"Does this rice rocket even have a six cylinder?" Spades asked. Amber turned the full power of her scowl on her employee.

"This is a vacation!" she shrieked. "You won't have to chase or pit anyone!"

"Is that a no?"

"It moves forward when you put it in drive and press the gas," Amber replied tiredly. Spades' droopy eyes registered disgust.

"You mean it's an automatic?" Spades asked, tone still calm.

"I guess." Amber watched as Spades leaned in through the open window.

"It's an automatic."

"I can't drive stick anyway," Amber growled. "If you taught me then we could have gotten a manual."

"I've tried to teach you," Spades replied. "So has Tim, Geoff, and Al."

"You're all lousy teachers," Amber growled. Spades shrugged off the insult and shoved their luggage into the trunk. "Where are we heading?"

"To the reason why I learned how to drive," Spades stated as he climbed behind the wheel.

"Where's that?" Amber asked as she climbed in as well.

"The bar."

"Why did you learn to drive because of a bar?"

"My guardian needed a designated driver and I was nominated as soon as I was old enough."

"Nut case dad and alcoholic guardian," Amber commented.

"Pretty much."

"You said I might understand," Amber added.

"You understanding anything yet?" Spades asked.

"I understand why you're an asshole and a drunkard," Amber replied.

"Good," Spades replied. "There are only a few more aspects of my personality to go."

"Such as your sexuality," Amber stated. She always hated questions where the answer was dangled in front of her.

"It's quite active, I can assure you of that."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know."

(:ii:)

"He is in the country."

"I am aware of that," Gendo stated. "Where is he right now?"

"He's in a bar," the Section-2 agent reported. "The agent following him has not been spotted."

"Continue to tail him and report his movements."

"Yes sir."

(:ii:)

Amber watched as Spades popped his knuckles. "Something bothering you?"

"We have a tail."

"What?" Amber demanded.

"We've been followed since we arrived in this country," Spades answered.

"Where is he?"

"In the booth in the far right corner," Spades answered as he took a sip from the small cup in front of him. Amber mirrored his movements. Spades set the cup down. He pulled his glasses from inside his coat and polished them carefully. He stared at the tail's reflection and tucked his glasses back into their hiding place.

"Wow. This stuff is great."

"Watch how much you drink," Spades warned.

"I'm a big girl," Amber argued. "I spent all my informative years pounding hard alcohol."

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Spades looked around the bar, checking exits.

"Why didn't you ditch him?" Amber asked quietly.

"Because he's driving a fucking Crown Vick," Spades explained. "Government Crown Vick equals police package and that means no outrunning in the piece of shit rice rocket you rented."

"Well I didn't think we'd have trouble."

"You need to get a healthy dose of paranoia," Spades growled.

"So I can act like an asylum reject like all of you?" Amber asked. "No thanks."

"You're staring barkeep," Spades stated suddenly. Amber had learned enough Japanese from the man to be able to follow the conversation fairly well.

"I apologize," the barkeeper stated immediately. "I meant no disrespect. Please forgive me. It's just that you look familiar, but I've never seen you around here."

"I grew up around here," Spades replied. "That was about six years ago."

"So you're back for the reunion then?" the barkeeper asked. "There are several men here for that."

"You don't say," Spades replied. "If you'll excuse me."

"Where are you going?" Amber asked.

"Take care of some business," Spades answered.

(:ii:)

Spades ducked into the bathroom and looked around quickly. Thankfully it was empty and he quickly drew his snubbie from under his left arm. He pressed his back against the wall next to the door and waited.

It didn't take too long. The tail stepped into the bathroom and never even saw Spades as he brought the base of his weapon's grip down on the back of the man's skull. Spades dragged him the rest of the way into the room and searched through his suit jacket for his wallet.

"I don't know why I'm bothering," he told the unconscious man. "I already know who the hell you work for." Spades found his wallet and something else. He flipped the wallet open. "Here's proof." Spades tugged a Gold and Mild from his coat and quickly lit it while he stared at the ID. "Section-2." Spades frowned and was about to toss the wallet at the man, but hesitated. He opened the top and stared at the sizable stack of bills inside.

"Thank you for making a donation to the Buy Spades a drink foundation. I know for certain that it's appreciated." Spades took the bills and tossed the wallet back on the man. He looked at his other prize and pressed the button on the side. The switchblade's double-edged blade flipped out and Spades tested the sharpness against his arm. It was damn sharp. "Too sharp for you pal. You'd just hurt yourself." He glanced at his glove-covered fingers, no problems with fingerprints. "Now what am I going to do about you?"

(:ii:)

Amber glanced up as her employee sat back down. "Hey Spades?"

"Yeah?"

"You didn't do something nasty to that guy, did you?" Amber asked.

"Of course not," Spades replied. He laid a rather sizable stack of bills on the bar. "A round for everyone barkeep."

"Of course sir!" the bartender exclaimed as he quickly scuttled about serving everyone at the bar.

"What's with the sudden generosity?"

"Let's just say I fell into some money," Spades replied.

"Yeah right," Amber growled. Then a beer was set in front of her. "I'll overlook it."

"Of course."

"Excuse me." Amber turned and saw a tall man with raven hair standing next to Spades. "I heard you were to thank for the drinks."

"Just had more money then I knew what to do with," Spades replied. "Now I don't." The man chuckled and sat down.

"Thanks for the drink."

"It was nothing."

"I see," the man stated. "So, are you in town for the reunion?"

"What makes you say that?" Spades asked.

"You have a slight English accent, but your Japanese is flawless," the man explained. "Been out of country for a while?"

"You're really good," Amber commented.

"Your Japanese leaves something to be desired," the man commented. Amber clamped a hand over her mouth.

"I'd prefer you didn't insult my employer," Spades stated.

"Easy," the man said soothingly. "Don't think of it as an insult. Think of it as constructive criticism, but I apologize if I have offended you."

"I don't offend easy," Spades replied. "I'm not so sure about her though."

"Of course," the man said as he turned to Amber. "Please accept my apologies miss."

"Okay," Amber replied somewhat awkwardly.

"So what class were you?" the man asked.

"We haven't introduced ourselves yet," Spades pointed out.

"I like trying to guess," the man explained.

"Class 2-A," Spades replied. A strange smirk spread across the man's face.

"Shinji Ikari. I thought it was you, but I wasn't sure."

"Do I know you?" Spades asked.

"We never met, but everyone knew you," the man replied. "I'm Yuuske Chidori. It was nice meeting you after so long." Amber watched as he stood and walked away.

"What was that about?" she asked. "Why did everyone know you?"

"How about more sake?"

"What?"

"Drink up. This stuff's pretty watered down. Of course someone like you might have some trouble with it."

"How dare you!"

(:ii:)

"So predictable." Spades laid his unconscious boss in the car and straightened up. "Come out now."

"Alright." Spades turned to see Yuuske step into the light of the streetlights. "Why are you following me?"

"I work for the United Nations," Yuuske explained. "I was recently transferred to NERV. You knocked out one of my subordinates in the bathroom."

"I robbed him blind too," Spades stated. "Don't forget about that. Now what do you want?"

"I'm on leave right now," Yuuske replied. "Frankly the UN has sent me here to investigate NERV." The man reached under his coat and Spades tensed slightly. "Relax." He pulled out a card. "This is my number. If NERV tries anything then you contact me."

"They have the right to do something to me now," Spades said as he eyed the card. "I assaulted one of their agents."

"Funny that," Yuuske stated. "I checked the crime scene pretty thoroughly. There was absolutely no evidence. Oddly, no one in the bar noticed anything either. Also, I have an inner ear problem. What did you just say?"

"Nothing," Spades replied. "You really want them busted."

"I hate them," Yuuske said simply. "They're bad people and they don't deserve to have the kind of power they have."

"You're no angel yourself," Spades commented.

"I may not be good, but I'm not evil like they are," Yuuske replied. "We have an understanding?"

"NERV may try some bad shit," Spades commented. "You have any limits on lethal actions?"

"They draw first its on their heads," Yuuske stated. "Straight forward and simple."

"We have an understanding."

(:ii:)

"Mourning Helen."

"Hey Mark." Mark leaned over Helen's shoulder and frowned. "What's that?"

"I'm writing up known expenses for this little Japanese excursion," Helen explained. "Lean a little further."

"Huh?" Mark never saw the haymaker coming. "My nose!"

"That's what you get for threatening my boyfriend!" Helen screamed, shooting to her feet. "When the others come in they'll get the same!"

"We didn't threaten him!" Mark protested as he pinched his nose and leaned forward so he didn't get blood on his shirt. "We just explained the consequences for cheating on you. So, did he run away?"

"No."

"Good," Mark stated happily. "He passed the first test. Now all we need is a background check and a urine sample."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Should we be?" Pablo asked. He had been the first person in the office that morning and now sported a neon green band aide across the bridge of his nose.

"Yes."

"Too bad," Al, another injured early comer, replied.

"Hang on a second!" Helen turned and saw Mark staring at her computer. "Spades and Amber have a hotel room with only one bed."

"All the others were already booked and they said it wasn't a problem," Helen explained.

"He's sharing a bed with a woman! He's strait!"

"Amber knows he's gay so she trusts him not to try anything while she's asleep!" Al countered.

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. I think the gag about Shinji's sexual preference is the longest running gag I've done, second only to Shinji refusing to bathe in Lycanthrope 2.


	7. Chapter Seven: Acquaintances

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Seven: Acquaintances

"What happened?" Gendo demanded.

"All communication was lost with our agent," the Section-2 agent explained. "We allowed for two hours to pass before moving to investigate."

"And what did you find?"

"Our agent was found unconscious and hog tied with his shoe laces in the bathroom," the Section-2 agent answered. "He had a mild concussion and slight laceration on his wrists from the bindings."

"Is there any evidence of what happened?" Gendo asked.

"Apparently he was beaten over the head with something, mugged, and then tied up," the agent stated. "A CSI team is still investigating the area, but they don't have very high hopes."

"I see. You are dismissed." The agent saluted and walked out.

"What do you make of this development Ikari?" Kozo asked.

"It has nothing to do with the Third Child," Gendo stated confidently. "He would not try something like this."

"You haven't even bothered reading the reports on his activities during his absence have you?"

(:ii:)

"Spades you asshole!" Spades glanced back from where he was sitting on the foot of the bed watching the news.

"Morning Chief." His bedraggled boss glared at him and he turned back to the news, sipping his coffee.

"I remember what you did!" Amber accused.

"You remember me warning you about sake?" Spades asked. "Too bad you didn't remember after you began gulping it down." Amber's anger faltered. Spades took another sip of his coffee. "If you're going to drink like that than maybe you shouldn't come to the reunion."

"I'm sorry," she replied after a moment. Spades took another sip. "Where did you get that coffee?"

"The pot over there." Spades felt the bed shift as Amber climbed to her feet and made her way over to the pot.

"What is this?"

"It's what I make," Spades answered. He was surprised she didn't already know. His coffee was famous, or rather infamous, back in the office.

"This stuff doesn't pour," Amber remarked, "it drips."

"It's boiled down," Spades replied.

"Why would you drink it?" Amber asked.

"It's almost pure caffeine," Spades answered. "I drank it back in college. That stuff keeps you awake and that's all I need. Taste is optional."

"Not for me," Amber stated. "Is there anywhere to go eat?"

"I saw a little diner," Spades replied dismissingly.

"When?"

"My morning jog," Spades answered. Amber sat next to him and tried to tame her short hair.

"I didn't know you jogged."

"Ten miles every morning," Spades stated. "You want to go out and eat?"

"Just let me grab a shower and we can go."

"Alright."

(:ii:)

"All the luxuries of home," Amber commented as she looked around the diner. It really did remind her of the diners back in LA, from the multiple coffee makers to the half-awake patrons.

"Yeah," Spades agreed. "Two for smoking please."

"Of course!" the young waitress exclaimed perkily. Amber scowled. She hated perky morning people.

"Here you are." Amber slid into the seat at the table the waitress had shown them to. "Can I get you coffee while you read the menu?"

"Please," Amber agreed as kindly as she could.

"Sure," Spades replied as he tugged out his reading glasses and began pouring over the menu. The waitress made a note on her pad and practically skipped away.

"So," Amber began, trying to think of a topic, "this is the area you grew up in?"

"I grew up in Sendai," Spades corrected. "I came here at fourteen and survived until I went to America."

"Survived?" Amber asked. "That's an interesting choice of words Spades."

"Mm." He glanced up from his menu, but he wasn't looking at her. He was staring over her shoulder at something. He looked down again before Amber could figure out what he was looking at.

"You're ignoring me," she accused.

"Mm?" Spades glanced up at her.

"You're ignoring me," Amber repeated.

"I would think that you'd be used to it by now," Spades commented before looking back down.

"Remember when I told you that women like honest men?" Amber asked.

"I remember having a conversation somewhere along these lines before."

"That would have been a good time to lie," Amber replied.

"And then you could have asked me to repeat what you just said and I would have looked like an ass," Spades replied.

"Somewhere along the line a woman screwed with your head and she did it very well," Amber stated. For a moment she saw Spades' brow furrow, turning his lazy half-open gaze into a piercing glare.

"You could say that."

"I said something bad again, right?"

"Don't worry," Spades replied. "You brought up my past. It's hard to say something about my past and not bring up something bad." He turned and stared at a woman Amber hadn't even noticed. "You aren't exactly a bad memory though."

"Thank you," the absolutely stunning woman replied.

"Grab a seat Class Rep."

"Okay."

(:ii:)

Hikari Horaki sat down and smiled at the droopy-eyed man sitting next to her. "It's been a long time Ikari."

"About six years," Shinji replied. He set down his menu and took off his glasses. "How have you been Class Rep?"

"Please," Hikari commented, "I haven't been your class representative for ten years."

"Alright," Shinji replied. He turned to look at the light-haired woman across from him. "This is my boss, Amber Young."

"Hello," Hikari said as she held out her hand. "I'm Hikari Horaki. It's nice to meet you."

"I can say the same," the woman replied in rather heavily accented Japanese. "You went to school with Spades?"

"Spades?" Hikari replied.

"It's a nickname," Shinji answered. "Don't ask where it came from."

"I'm kind of interested in knowing that," Amber commented.

"You just want to win that bet back in the office."

"Money is money," Amber replied. She turned back to look at Hikari. "So you're here for the reunion too?"

"Yeah," Hikari answered. She glanced back at Shinji. Everything about him seemed so different. The only thing that had tipped Hikari off to his identity were his eyes. Hikari clearly remembered the blue color of his eyes from when they had first met. He had been the only person in their class to have blue eyes until Asuka had arrived. Even though she never admitted it, Hikari had always loved his eyes. "Have you talked with Asuka lately?"

"I haven't spoken with her in six years and I am ecstatic with that fact," Shinji replied. "Why would I have talked with her?"

"She disappeared about the same time you did," Hikari explained. "Everyone kind of assumed you two ran off together." Shinji snorted.

"Well I don't enjoy constantly being hit and belittled," Shinji stated. "That kind of put a damper on any relationship we might have had." Hikari frowned. She had used to think that Shinji and Asuka Sohryu were something of a couple. It just seemed so romantic, two people struggling to save the world and falling in love.

"I guess I should have known better," she allowed. Hikari had seen first hand exactly how her German friend had treated the young man. 'Not so young any more,' she thought, running an eye over her former classmate. "That's kind of stupid I guess. You were dating that woman at the time."

"Yeah," Shinji replied. "So how's Touji?" Hikari winced. She had that coming for bringing up that woman.

"I don't know," Hikari stated. "I took a page from your book and took off. I left about two weeks after you did."

(:ii:)

"Here's your coffee."

"Thanks." Spades picked up the cup and took a sip.

"See?" Amber asked. "This is how coffee is supposed to be."

"It all goes to the same place, does the same thing, and fucks up your heart the same way," Spades replied as he reached into his pocket. He tugged a Gold and Mild from the pack and slipped it between his lips.

"How many of those did you bring?" Amber asked.

"Enough to last me a while," Spades replied as he tugged a match from his coat and lit it off the palm of his hand.

"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asked.

"A little longer please," Amber replied. "Would you like some coffee Miss Horaki?"

"Please."

"So," Spades began, turning back to Hikari, "you said you left. Where did you go?"

"I traveled a little," Hikari answered. "After I graduated from college I went to France and enrolled at a culinary institute there."

"I've always wanted to go to France," Amber commented.

"I'm not surprised in the least," Spades replied. "You always did say that you liked to cook. So, have you been staying in France?"

"No," Hikari answered. "I came back here and I've been working at a French restaurant in Tokyo-2. We have a lot of foreign dignitaries as customers. Right now I'm not too important, but the head chef is starting to give me bigger and bigger jobs."

"Good for you," Spades stated. Of all the people he had known, Hikari was probably the only one who deserved a happy ending.

"What about you?" Hikari asked.

"What?"

"You," Hikari repeated. "What did you do after you pulled your disappearing trick?"

"Went to America and worked on my master's degree and doctorate at the University of California," Spades answered with a shrug.

"You're a doctor?"

"Just got the title a few months ago," Spades replied. "It was a bitch to do while holding down a job, but that's what night school and summer classes are for."

"Isn't that how you finished your Master's in a little over a year?" Amber asked. Spades nodded. Being a clinical genius hadn't hurt much either.

"Wow," Hikari stated. "So what are you a doctor of?"

"Psychology," Spades answered. "I specialize in criminal psychology and behavioral psychology."

"What do you do for a living?" Hikari asked.

"I've been working at a private investigations firm in Los Angeles for the past four years," Spades replied. "She's my boss."

"Young Private Investigations!" Amber exclaimed as she shoved a business card at Hikari. "While our primary area of operations is Los Angeles, we have carried out many operations abroad and our list of happy customers includes several foreign governments."

"Down girl," Spades ordered. "She's a chef, not a chair for a fortune five hundred company."

"Sorry." Amber sat back down. Spades glanced at Hikari and saw her staring at him. He took a deep drag on his Gold and Mild.

"What?"

"I just never pictured you being anything like you are," Hikari stated. Spades took another drag.

"That's funny. . .because neither did I."

(:ii:)

"See you tonight!" Spades dropped his Gold and Mild and stubbed it out under the heel of his shoe. "Wave goodbye Spades."

"Goodbye," Spades replied dryly, doing a fairly decent impression of a politician's half-assed wave. Hikari laughed and continued on her way.

"See?" Amber demanded. "Not everything in your past is bad!"

"I barely knew her," Spades stated. "She was in my classes and dated an acquaintance of mine. We never really made an effort to get to know each other, or talk for that matter."

"So this acquaintance would be that Touji guy, right?" Amber asked. Spades nodded. "What kind of idiot would cheat on a girl like that?"

"An overly hormonal adolescent who refused to grow up."

"Well that's still ridiculous to do when you have someone like her waiting for you," Amber stated. "Did you see her boobs? They had to be at least a big C-cup. I wish mine were that big. I thought guys dug slim chicks with big boobs."

"Is all this talk about her breasts from your bi-sexual days in college?" Spades asked. Amber's cheeks turned bright red.

"That only happened twice."

"That you remember," Spades stated. "My little drunkard."

"Docked paycheck!" Amber shrieked, trying to control the twitching in her eyebrow. Spades held his hands up in submission. "So, did she get a boob job?"

"I'd hate to say it, but that seems like the only explanation," Spades answered. "She was fairly small chested throughout college. I thought she was more self respecting than that."

"Never underestimate the kind of pressure society can put on someone who is viewed as imperfect," Amber stated.

"True," Spades replied. "Though most of the men I knew thought she was cute, even without large breasts."

"Cute can only get you so far," Amber stated. "Plus there's always the old saying that perfection is in the eye of the beholder."

"That's beauty," Spades corrected.

"So, what do you think about me getting a boob job?"

"I'd never talk to you again," Spades replied flatly. "I mean it."

"Okay. Sheesh. I was just kidding. If they were any bigger they'd just get in my way," Amber stated. She was silent for a moment. "So you think only insecure women get boob jobs?"

"More or less," Spades replied. He was fairly certain that this topic had come up somewhere before.

"Well you can always be proven wrong," Amber commented.

"Of course," Spades replied. "I just don't understand why women think that all men want a very large chested woman."

"Men," Amber said in disgust. "What I see in men I'll never know."

"Sexual gratification?" Spades guessed.

"I have all the sexual gratification I could ever want in a shoe box under my bed," Amber shot back, "and it never gets soft."

"It constantly needs new batteries I would wager," Spades commented.

"How did you. . .that was some sort of comment to suggest that I am sexually frustrated, wasn't it?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Spades asked.

"I'll have you know that my sex life is excellent!"

"And empty."

"That's beside the point." Spades glanced at his watch.

"We have nine hours before we're supposed to meet Horaki for dinner," he stated.

"So?"

"So, you said that we'd go somewhere really nice," Spades replied. "Really nice places require reservations."

"So?"

"So we don't even know where a really nice place is."

"Well that's a problem."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. As you might have guessed, I am a master of tasteless sex jokes.

Please note: I write in a limited third person point of view. Sections with Hikari as the main character have Spades called Shinji because she doesn't know him as Spades. Just in case I was confusing you again.


	8. Chapter Eight: Invitation

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Eight: Invitation

"I will send an agent to collect him," Gendo stated as he stared at the report on his desk.

"What if he doesn't agree to come?" Kozo asked.

"They will make sure that he comes," Gendo answered. "Do not worry Sensei. He will not fight."

"You really should try reading the reports on him sometimes," Kozo commented.

(:ii:)

Spades set down the telephone in its cradle and leaned back on the bed. "Well?"

"Reservation's for six o'clock," Spades replied. "You'll have to figure out something to do until then."

"That shouldn't be too hard," Amber commented. "So how did you get reservations the day of?"

"The owner of the restaurant is the nephew of a Yakuza boss in LA," Spades replied. "I just blew a favor on getting us a place to eat."

"Don't think of it as blowing a favor," Amber stated. "Think of it as using your connections to get us into a nice restaurant."

"I'd rather save my connections for more serious situations," Spades replied as he ran a hand over the thick stubble on his chin. Pretty soon it would stop being stubble and be a beard. He glanced up and watched as Amber compared two nearly identical dresses.

"So," she began. Spades could tell by the way that she stared at the dresses that she was trying to decide whether or not she should bring something up.

"Go ahead," Spades urged. "Say it now or you're just going to say it later." Amber finally set down the dress.

"That girl Horaki mentioned. . ."

"Asuka Sohryu?" Spades asked.

"No," Amber replied. "The one you dated in college. She's the one, right? She's the one who screwed with your head."

"That's right," Spades replied.

"So I can blame her for you being the way you are," Amber stated.

"The way I am?" Spades repeated. "You know, I tend to think that having a dead mother, absent asshole father, drunken guardian, manipulative friends, and an abusive roommate had something to do with it." Amber stared at him and Spades frowned. 'Gave away a little too much,' he thought.

"You're different from back then," Amber stated after a moment. "Horaki said so."

"Well being the expert that she is," Spades commented.

"Don't get snappy at me," Amber growled. "I just want to know so that I can help."

"Help your own curiosity," Spades corrected sharply as he stood up. He pulled on his shoulder rig and cinched it tight to his button down. "I'm going out. . ."

"She cheated on you, didn't she?" Amber asked. "You were having a serious relationship and she cheated on you." Spades froze. "That's it, right?" Amber asked. "You were betrayed by so many, but she was the last straw. That's why it's so hard for you to trust anyone."

"You're looking into this pretty deep," Spades commented.

"You said that if I came along then I might understand," Amber replied. "That's all I'm trying to do."

"Good for you," Spades said tiredly. "I'll have you know that I've always had trust issues." He opened the door and stepped out.

"Hey! Wait up Spades!"

(:ii:)

"This city is pretty nice," Amber commented as she looked around the nice city park. "Are those lakes manmade?"

"They were created by the self-destruction of a massive humanoid fighting machine." Amber's jaw dropped slightly and she stared at the man sitting beside her. Then she began to laugh.

"I didn't know you could tell a joke."

"A joke," Spades repeated. Amber's laughter died almost immediately.

"That was a joke, right?" she asked.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Spades replied.

"Being cryptic doesn't suit you."

"You just don't like it because you can't get strait answers to all the questions you keep asking." Amber scowled at him and Spades stared at the lake, quite content with ignoring her.

"Hey Spades?"

"Yeah?" Spades asked. He was beginning to think that he should have ditched her back at the hotel.

"Why did you agree to come work with me?" Amber asked. "You know, when I decided to leave college before getting my Master's and take over my dad's business."

"Well," Spades began. He frowned. Nothing was really coming up in his mind as a good reason. "I don't know."

"You must have known that it would have made getting your Doctor's degree really hard," Amber pressed. "It would have been easier for you if you had just stayed completely in school."

"I did know that," Spades agreed. "I really don't know why I agreed to work for you."

"That's not like you," Amber pointed out.

"It's not like how I am," Spades argued. "I was a different person four years ago."

"You really are," Amber replied. Spades could tell she was thinking about something she didn't particularly like. "So, would you do it again?"

"In a heart beat."

(:ii:)

Hikari stared at the number on the door and checked the paper in her hand. It was the right one. She raised her hand and knocked. A moment later the door swung open and Shinji stood in the doorway. "Hi Ikari."

"Good evening Horaki," the tall man replied as he stepped aside. "Come in. Chief is just finishing getting ready."

"Alright." Hikari stepped into the small apartment and sat down in one of the few chairs. Shinji sat down across from her and picked up a canter filled with amber liquid.

"Drink?"

"No thanks," Hikari replied. "I don't drink alcohol."

"Good for you." Shinji poured a large amount of the liquid into the glass and picked it up. Hikari glanced at the single bed and blushed slightly. Shinji must have followed her gaze. "We aren't like that."

"What?"

"We aren't like that," Shinji repeated, gesturing to the bed. "We're grown adults and I'd like to think that we can keep our hormones in check enough to share a bed."

"Right, sorry."

"Not a problem," Shinji replied as he took a drink from the glass. "Ready Chief?"

"Yeah!" One of the doors opened and Amber stepped out. "Let's get going, alright?"

(:ii:)

Spades frowned as his phone continued to vibrate. He finally picked it up and flipped it open. "Spades Ikari speaking."

"It's me." Spades recognized that voice automatically.

"What do you want?" Spades asked. "And how did you get this number?"

"Talk around NERV is that they're going to try something," Yuuske stated, ignoring Shinji's second question. "Keep on your toes."

"When?"

"Tonight some time," Yuuske answered. "Try to keep in well-populated areas. Maybe that will discourage them."

"I don't want to discourage them," Spades stated. "What will they be carrying?"

"Automatic pistols at most," Yuuske answered. "That's plenty."

"I can handle it," Spades stated. "Keep me informed." He flipped the phone shut and tucked it in his pocket.

"Who was that?" Amber asked.

"I fail to see how that is your business."

"I'm just curious," Amber stated. "Like you said, there's no one you'd want to talk to outside of LA."

"We're here." Shinji stared at the restaurant through the windshield of Hikari's car. "Well. . .it's big."

"This is a lot bigger then the place I work," Hikari added.

"That's because the owner is part of the Yaku. . .mph!"

"No more talking," Spades stated as he removed his hand from Amber's mouth. "Pull up front. They have valet parking."

"Okay," Hikari replied. She pulled up to the front and Spades climbed out. One of the valets took the keys from Hikari and drove off. The front doors were opened and Spades stepped inside, finding a man in a tuxedo blocking his path.

"Do you have reservations sir?"

"Yes," Spades replied. "They're under the name of Ikari."

"Sir!" Spades frowned as the man bowed lowly. "I shall take you to your table right away."

"Well he seemed happy to see you," Hikari commented.

"I know his boss," Spades replied as he followed after the man. He led them to a table in what was, Spades supposed, a good location. He slid his reading glasses on and picked up one of the menus. Now he had a problem. "It's all in French."

"Don't order anything that sounds like frogs, snails, or puppies," Amber commented helpfully.

"Yeah."

"Americans," Hikari grumbled. "I mean. . ."

"I am an American," Spades interrupted. "Have been for a while now."

"I'd like to know how you got citizenship so fast," Amber commented.

"You have your connections and I have mine," Spades stated flatly.

"So you really plan on staying in America for the rest of your life?" Hikari asked.

"Don't see why not," Spades answered as he stared at the menu, trying to puzzle out what several of the more obscure sounding words were. "I still want to do some post doctorate classes. Maybe I'll join a practice if I ever decide to quit being a private detective."

"I didn't know that you wanted to open a practice," Amber commented.

"What else would I do with a bunch of fancy diplomas?"

(:ii:)

"This is incredible." Spades glanced up at Hikari. "I have got to find out the recipe for this."

"We'll add that to the list," Amber commented.

"What?"

"You said the same thing about every thing that they've brought out," Spades explained.

"I have?" Hikari asked in surprise. Spades nodded.

"Mister Ikari?" Spades eyed the man standing beside the table. "May I have a word with you?"

"I've been waiting for you to come over," Spades commented.

"May we speak in private?" the man asked.

"No," Spades replied. "Anything you can say in front of me you can say in front of them."

"Your father wishes to speak with you," the man stated.

"Tell my father that I don't want to speak with him," Spades said flatly. "I was hoping that he'd be intelligent enough to figure that out from all the letters he sent that I ignored, but I guess that was expecting too much."

"Is that your final answer?" the man asked.

"First and final," Spades stated. The man looked around and opened his coat slightly to reveal a pistol holstered under his arm.

"I'm going to have to insist that you come with me."

"Is there a problem Mister Ikari?" The NERV man spun and stared at the two new men.

"No," Spades answered calmly. "He was just leaving. May I ask that you two show him to the door?"

"You may," the man who had already spoken replied.

"Thank you," Spades said. "And thank your boss for me."

"We will," the second man said. "This way sir."

"This wasn't a wise move Ikari," the man from NERV stated.

"Now please," one of the other two snapped. Spades watched as they walked away.

"What the hell was that?" Amber asked. Spades glanced at her. She was following the man carefully with her eyes.

"He was from my father," Spades explained simply.

"And the gun?"

"Megalomaniac, remember?"

"You didn't tell me that he was that kind of megalomaniac," Amber replied.

"There's another kind?"

"He just threatened you with a gun." Spades turned to Hikari. She was sitting stock upright and her eyes were nearly bugging out of her skull.

"Not the first time," Spades said soothingly. "Don't worry about it."

"But. . ."

"Don't worry," Spades repeated. Hikari stared at him.

"He was from your father?" she asked. "From NERV?"

"Yeah," Spades replied. "NERV secret police."

"Too bad he didn't try something," Amber commented. "It would have been gratifying to see that arrogant shit get knee capped."

"Really," Spades replied as he speared another piece of chicken on his fork and ate it.

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Not much action, none at all really.


	9. Chapter Nine: Little Problems

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Nine: Little Problems

"So I'll pick you two up tomorrow for the reunion?"

"That would be wonderful Horaki," Spades replied as he climbed out of the car. "Come on Chief." The woman climbed out of Hikari's coup and Spades shut the door.

"Well, thanks for a great evening," Hikari stated.

"It was our pleasure," Spades replied. "Drive safe."

"Always." Spades stepped up onto the curb and watched as the car pulled out.

"That was fun."

"Yeah," Amber replied. "Sweet girl."

"Yup."

"Probably the first time she's even seen a gun."

"Definitely."

"Too bad she met us," Amber commented.

"Yeah," Spades agreed as he turned to stare at the man standing outside the main door of the lobby. "I really should have had you knee capped."

"Your friends aren't here Mister Ikari," the man stated. "You will come with us now. Whether you come willingly or not is up to you." Spades started for the door, but the man blocked his entrance. Spades sized the man up and sighed in annoyance.

"Step aside kid. Beating the shit out of weaklings gets me down."

"Bullshit," Amber snorted. Spades glared at her over his shoulder. He turned back to the man in time to see him shove his hand into his jacket. Spades wasn't going to wait and see what the man pulled out. With little wind up the straight left jab to the man's nose wasn't enough to put him down, but the right hook to the side of his skull was. The simple combo had taken less then a second.

"Watch out," Amber warned. A little too late because Spades had no time to react as a pair of arms wrapped around his chest.

"God damn it," Spades spat. He hated sneak attacks. Spades leaned forward and slammed the back of his head into the man's face. Something crunched and the man let go with a cry of pain. Spades broke free and spun, using his own momentum to deliver a powerful right hook to the man's face. He spun dazedly and sank to the ground.

"Behind you," Amber commented. Spades spun, dropping to a crouch. The man who had tried charging his back had no time to react as Spades launched himself forward. His shoulder hit the man in the stomach and they both tumbled to the ground. Spades landed on top and quickly sat up. He swung once and his fist slammed into the man's jaw, sending blood spraying across the concrete. "Well that was quick."

"Yeah," Spades stated as he staggered to his feet, adrenaline making him clumsier then normal. He grabbed the man's throat and lifted the body into the air, quite intent on ended his miserable existence.

"We're trying to avoid the cops Spades," Amber commented. Spades scowled and dropped the man. He turned, checked his carefully styled hair and dug a Gold and Mild out of his coat.

"Yeah."

"Feel better?" Amber asked as she leaned back against the wall and took a drag on her Gold and Mild, probably the one she had taken from his desk a few days ago.

"Much," Spades stated as he tried to light a match. It fell from his fingers as the post-fight shakes began to set in. He sighed in annoyance. He glanced at Amber and leaned across the space between them. He lit his cigar off of hers and leaned back.

"We should probably call the cops."

"Yeah."

(:ii:)

Helen sighed and picked up the phone. She had been about to go out and grab lunch when it started to ring. "Young Private Investigations. How can I help you?"

"Save the song and dance number," a calm voice ordered.

"Spades?"

"The very same," Spades replied. "Is Freddie there?" Helen looked around the office and spotted the large man.

"Yeah."

"Ask him if he's still buddies with the Naval Attaché in Japan."

"Hey, Freddie?"

"Yeah?"

"Spades wants to know if you're still buddies with the Naval Attaché in Japan," Helen stated.

"Hell yeah," Freddie replied. "I saved that bastard's life when we were both SEALs in the Panamanian Civil War."

"He is," Helen summarized, ignoring the older man as he launched into another long winded story.

"Ask him to call that guy and start an investigation into a UN initiative in Tokyo-3. The initiative is NERV."

"What happened?" Helen asked. "Are you and Chief okay?"

"We're fine," Spades assured her. "NERV sent a couple of guys to abduct me, but I took care of them."

"Where are you right now?" Helen asked, already fearing the answer.

"The police station."

"You didn't kill any of them, did you?" Helen asked in annoyance.

"Killing them is too much trouble," Spades replied. "I just smacked them around a little."

"Alright then," Helen stated. "We'll get right to work on causing this NERV thing a shit storm."

"It'd be appreciated."

(:ii:)

Amber yawned and stretched her hands over her head. "These guys are just like the assholes in LA! How many times do we have to say that they attacked first?"

"A lot," Spades replied as he checked his watch. "Good thing I put my weapons up in the room. If I had a gun then we would have been there for at least another eight hours."

"Yeah," Amber agreed. "Why didn't you press charges anyway?"

"It would be bringing up charges against a United Nations agency," Spades stated. "That's a bigger fight then I'm looking for at the moment."

"Oh," Amber replied. That made sense.

"And the cops are all in NERV's pocket," Spades added.

"I see." Now that made a lot of sense. She chuckled.

"Ah yes," Spades stated, "the hilarity that is corruption."

"No," Amber replied. "It was funny seeing you in there. The way you were spouting regulations and procedures was incredible. How did you know all that?"

"Something my guardian told me when we first met," Spades answered. "In a state of emergency NERV has the authority to do just about anything they damn well please. Outside of a state of emergency they have no real powers. They cannot legally detain me or even touch me." Amber smiled. Sometimes Spades did seem a lot like a lawyer. The man had a steel trap of a brain for facts and statistics.

"What time is it?"

"Six o'clock," Spades replied. "They could have at least given us a ride home."

"I thought you jogged ten miles a day," Amber commented.

"I do," Spades stated. Amber looked around the lightening streets of Tokyo-3. The sun was just beginning to come up. An all night diner caught her eye.

"Let's get something to eat."

"Alright." They crossed the street and walked inside.

"You think NERV is going to try something like that again?" she asked.

"They're too stupid to try anything else," Spades replied, running a hand over his infuriatingly neat swept back hair. "You up for blowing off this reunion yet?"

"What do you mean?" Amber asked. "This is starting to get really amusing."

"For you," Spades commented.

"Does anything else matter?"

(:ii:)

Gendo stared at the papers spread across his desk. It almost seemed surreal. The boy who had fled to America six years ago would never have caused this kind of damage. Broken ribs, a shattered jaw, two broken noses, and a hairline fracture in one of the agents' skulls. "This is. . ."

"You're son was a boxer in college," Kozo interrupted. "He even held a few state titles."

"That changes nothing," Gendo stated. "We will need him for the success of our operation."

"I suppose the diplomatic approach would never have worked," Kozo commented.

"The chance for diplomacy ended when he ignored the letters," Gendo stated. "He alone can pilot Unit One and that machine is the only one that truly matters."

"I see," Kozo commented. "Have you thought about sending Colonel Katsuragi to speak with him?"

"I have," Gendo answered.

"And?" Kozo pressed.

"Do you really think he'd be thrilled to see that floozy?" Gendo asked. Kozo sighed. The Colonel was still a highly attractive woman, but the Third Child certainly wouldn't care. He had lived with her for too long and gotten to know her too well for her charms to work on him.

"Not really."

(:ii:)

Spades scratched the back of his neck and lit his cigar. "How's the French toast?"

"It's pretty good," Amber replied. Spades glanced down at his toast and sipped his coffee. "So what are your plans for the reunion?"

"What do you mean?" Spades asked.

"What do you want to do?" Amber asked. "Are you going to look for your friends. . ."

"What friends?" Spades interrupted. Amber hesitated and frowned.

"Get drunk?" she asked.

"Bingo."

"Pick a fight with some stupid bastard who also wanted to get drunk?" Amber saw one of Spades' eyebrows cock upwards. 'Oh no.' "That was a joke."

"Sounded like a good idea to me," Spades commented. "If a couple of people haven't changed their ways then maybe its about time someone taught them some humility."

"Not this again."

(:ii:)

"Hey Spades?" Spades sighed and set the speed loader he had been prepping down on the bedside table.

"Yeah?"

"Which dress do you like better?" Amber asked as she held up two dresses. One was a green dress and the other was a more modest black one.

"The black one."

"You always say the black one," Amber argued.

"Yet you always ask me," Spades shot back as he picked up the speed loader again. His finished loading bullets into the tiny device and set it back down.

"I guess the black one is kind of cute," Amber murmured. Spades glanced at the woman out of the corner of his eye. She was holding the outfit in front of herself and staring into the mirror. "Yeah, the black one's fine. What are you wearing?"

"My suit," Spades replied as he nodded towards the outfit he had already laid out on the bed.

"That thing?" Amber grumbled. "You always wear that thing."

"I have the black suit that I wear on special occasions," Spades argued.

"This isn't a special occasion?" Amber asked.

"Not in the least," Spades replied as he picked up his snubby and carefully ran a brush down the weapon's bore.

"What are you doing with that?" Amber asked.

"Clearing residue from the barrel," Spades replied. "Residue build up can affect accuracy. The accuracy of a snub nose is already not great because of the short barrel."

"You're going to hide that thing, right?" Amber asked.

"I was planning on wearing it on my hip," Spades replied. "That'll keep people away."

"That will also lead to a docked paycheck."

(:ii:)

Hikari knocked carefully and heard the click of the door unlocking. It swung open and Hikari smiled at the man inside. "Hey Ikari."

"Good evening Horaki," Shinji replied politely. "Come inside."

"You shaved," Hikari noted as she stepped into the hotel room.

"Not by choice," Shinji said dryly. Hikari had to laugh at that. Shinji stepped in front of the mirror in the room and checked his clothes. He was wearing the same brown suit that he had been wearing for dinner the previous night. He buttoned up his vest and ran a hand over his hair.

"Is Amber still getting ready?"

"Of course," Shinji answered. "She's been getting ready for the past three hours."

"I heard that!" The bathroom door opened and Amber stepped out in a relatively nice black dress. "Spades, your tie is crooked."

"Let me." Hikari stepped forward and carefully straightened the man's tie. "There. Looks good Ikari."

"Thank you Horaki."

"Ick. You two are so formal," Amber grumbled.

"Japan is a fairly formal place," Shinji replied as he pulled on his brown jacket and picked up his fedora.

"You aren't Japanese anymore," Amber commented.

"Ah yes, American. Forgive me if I don't drool on myself."

"Two words three syllables," Amber growled.

"Docked paycheck?" Shinji asked.

"Bingo." Hikari finally couldn't take it.

"He threatened you with a gun!" Hikari took a deep breath and blushed when she noticed that both Amber and Shinji were staring at her. "I'm sorry."

"Not a problem," Shinji replied dismissingly. "I remember the first time a guy pulled a gun on me."

"You freaked out?" Amber asked.

"Well, not exactly," Shinji replied. "I broke his arm in four places."

"Now that sounds like you," Amber stated.

"No it doesn't," Hikari murmured weakly.

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Well, pretty much a bridge chapter. One fight and then talking. Oh well, next time is the reunion! There will be some fun reunions. . .well I suppose that would be self evident.


	10. Chapter Ten: The Reunion Pt 1

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Ten: The Reunion Pt. 1

"Here we are." Hikari slid her coup into one of the empty parking places and turned the car off. She climbed out and stared at her old high school. "Well this place hasn't changed."

"Kind of funny when you think about all that has happened to this city," Shinji commented.

"I guess." Hikari shut her door and locked the car.

"Best get this over with," Shinji stated. "The sooner we're inside, the sooner I can find the bar."

"Spades," Amber began warningly.

"I'm starting to think that's a good idea," Hikari commented. She had never really liked high school. She had been so busy with her duties as a class representative that she had never really bothered trying to make friends. Of course there had been the few people she had known for a long time like Touji and Kensuke, but really the only friend she had made after she started middle school was Asuka. "Why am I doing this?"

"Because you're as stupid as I am," Shinji answered. Hikari laughed.

"That's true. I hope you don't mind if I hang out with you two for most of the evening."

"Not at all," Amber replied. "Although I have to warn you, we're pretty bad drunks."

"You're a bad drunk," Shinji corrected. "I'm a quiet drunk. You start flirting with everything moving." Amber's cheeks flushed brightly and Hikari laughed again.

"Come on you two. We're supposed to go in through the front."

"Right," Shinji replied. Hikari turned and led her two friends around the school. Their movement ceased immediately when they rounded the corner.

"Holy shit," Amber stated as they viewed the media frenzy outside the door. "Did you two go to school with a God damn movie star?"

"There were a few famous people in our class," Shinji replied. Hikari glanced over her shoulder in confusion. Shinji met her eyes squarely and shook his head. Hikari nodded. For whatever reason he didn't want Amber to know that he was an Eva pilot. That was just fine with Hikari.

"Well," Shinji began as he lowered the brim of his fedora, "might as well press on."

"Let's hope none of them want an interview with you," Amber commented. "You don't like the press after all."

"I barely hurt that reporter," Shinji grumbled sullenly.

"You dislocated his shoulder!" Amber exclaimed.

"The EMT popped it right back into place," Shinji replied dismissingly. "No harm, no foul."

"No harm my ass."

"No lasting harm," Shinji corrected.

(:ii:)

Spades pushed the door to the school open and looked around the large entryway. There were several people milling around and there was a large table set up with cards on it and a woman sitting behind it.

Spades was temporarily surprised by the disgust welling inside him. He would have thought that his distaste for this building would have mellowed out over the years. It hadn't. "Well this place really hasn't changed." Spaces glanced at Hikari and reached into his pocket for his Gold and Milds. He fished one out and placed it between his lips.

"No smoking Ikari," Hikari commented.

"Alright Class Rep," Spades replied. Hikari smiled at that.

"This place doesn't really look that different from an American high school," Amber commented. "I was expecting something different."

"Perfectly clean hallways with posters blaring subliminal messages?" Spades ventured.

"Would it be racism if I said yes?" Amber asked.

"More like uniformed ignorance," Spades replied.

"That's racism."

"Racism is more like willfully uniformed ignorance," Spades clarified.

"You two talk about the weirdest things some times," Hikari commented.

"This is nothing," Amber stated. "You should see the guys working for me back home."

"Ah yes, the old war stories," Spades agreed. "So, are we supposed to check in at the table or something?"

"I guess," Hikari replied. She shared a look with Amber and Spades frowned. In his experience plotting women were a very bad thing. Almost in unison both of them grabbed an arm and dragged him towards the table. To her credit, the woman behind the table only gawked at them for a moment.

"Hello Tokyo-3 High School alumni!" the woman behind the table exclaimed. "It's me, your student president, Hitomi Uchida." Spades tried to think back to his days in high school. He couldn't really remember who was student president, but the name sounded familiar.

"It's nice to be back," Hikari purred, tightening her hold on Spades' arm, "isn't it Shinji?" Spades saw Hitomi's jaw drop several centimeters.

"Ikari?" she managed, sounding like she wouldn't be more surprised if an American president went to war for dubious reasons. 'Bad analogy,' Spades mused.

"Doctor Ikari," Amber corrected, nuzzling his shoulder. Hitomi fumbled through the little laminated cards on the table and managed to find the one she was looking for.

"Well. . .uh, here you go Ikari."

"What about my other date?" Spades asked, glancing at Hikari. "You haven't given her a card yet." Hitomi's eyes turned to Hikari and Shinji could see the complete lack of recognition.

"Never mind," Hikari stated, "my card's right here." She picked up a card and held it out. Now Hitomi looked even more surprised.

"Horaki?"

"Yeah," Hikari replied. "It was great seeing you again Uchida. Let's go."

"Right," Spades said. "See you next year." He tightened his hold around Hikari and Amber and they walked into the cafeteria, leaving Hitomi gaping at them stupidly. No sooner were they through the door then Hikari burst into laughter.

"Did you see the look on her face?"

"You may be lousy at your own jokes, but you can certainly run with others," Amber commented.

"Ah, my sparkling sense of humor," Spades commented. "I'm very well known for it."

"If by sparkling you mean cruel, cynical, jaded and sadistic," Amber stated.

"To each their own," Spades stated.

"These things have our pictures on them."

"What?" Shinji turned and watched as Hikari held up her card. Right over her name was a picture. She was dressed nice, so Spades assumed it was her senior picture. His boss quickly tore his own card from his fingers.

"Oh my God. You really were a teenager once," Amber stated.

"Only in age," Spades replied. "Now where's the bar?"

(:ii:)

"Come on Spades."

"No."

"Please."

"I am nowhere near drunk enough." Spades watched as Amber pouted and made her way onto the dance floor to find a partner. Spades turned back to nursing his drink. He had been there all of ten minutes and had been accosted by several women who obviously hadn't recognized them.

"Doctor Ikari." Well, no one _had_ recognized him yet. Spades turned and sighed in relief.

"It's only you."

"Only me?" Yuuske asked. "I'm hurt." He sat down and looked around. "Not into mingling?"

"No," Spades replied. He took another sip from his whiskey. "Anything happening?"

"There's a full assault force of twelve men around here somewhere," Yuuske replied. "They're going to try the old blitzkrieg tactics."

"Take me by surprise and bring me down fast?" Spades asked.

"Yeah," Yuuske replied. "You have a weapon, do you not?"

"I do," Spades replied, "and I have plenty of ammunition."

"Excellent," Yuuske said. "Well, it was wonderful seeing you again Ikari!" He turned and moseyed off, drink in hand.

"Drunk enough yet?" Spades' fist clenched and he sighed in annoyance.

"Alright."

"Yea!" Amber exclaimed happily.

(:ii:)

"Having fun?" Hikari turned and saw that Shinji and Amber had returned from the dance floor.

"As much as I thought," Hikari replied. "For some reason a whole lot of men seem to remember being very good friends with me."

"I seem to have a similar problem," Shinji replied.

"Yeah," Amber added. "If I didn't know better I would have thought you were the prom king."

"I never went to prom," Shinji replied. He stood up and fished his cigars out of the coat he had left lying across the back of his chair. "If you need me to hit anyone for you then I'll be outside."

"That's so sweet," Amber commented, "the brave knight fighting for the virtue of his lady friends."

"You have virtue?" Shinji turned and disappeared into the crowd before Amber could fire back a rebuttal.

"That asshole." Hikari picked up her drink and took a sip. "You knew Spades for a while, right?"

"I didn't know him to well," Hikari answered. "He was best friends with my ex and lived in the same apartment as my best friend."

"Ah," Amber replied. "Was he like that?"

"No," Hikari answered quickly. Even with the man in front of her as living proof, she still found it hard to believe that he was Shinji Ikari. "He was really withdrawn and he didn't have a lot of friends. As a matter of fact, he only had two."

"Two good friends?" Amber asked.

"Two friends," Hikari clarified. "Now that I look back on it, I guess he was really terrified of being rejected. I heard that his mother died, his father abandoned him, and he was shipped off to some old friend of the family."

"Yeah," Amber said. "We were drinking buddies in college. He pretty much told me all of that in a drunken haze. Then I explained my own miserable life. And then we passed out. The bar tender always teased us about charging rent because we slept there so much."

"He was starting to get better and become a little more friendly," Hikari continued, "but then an exchange student from Germany went to live with him."

"What did she do?" Amber asked. Hikari sighed. She really didn't want to talk bad of an old friend, but there was no real way to explain Asuka's behavior nicely.

"She pretty much abused him," Hikari stated. She saw Amber recoil. "Not sexually." 'Well. . .maybe,' Hikari thought. She tried to shake off the sickening thoughts, but there was no way she could put it past the girl she had known.

"Oh."

"She was always insulting him or hitting him for the tiniest reasons, sometimes there weren't even reasons," Hikari explained. She had taken a few psychology courses in college, so she felt she had a pretty good grasp of her friend's condition. "She was really competitive, I mean ridiculously so. If she was the best she was happy, but if she failed at anything she would take out her anger on him."

"I have a hard time ever picturing Spades being victimized like that."

"It was a long time ago and we were all different people," Hikari stated. "I should have helped him. I could have at least tried to be his friend."

"We all have regrets, but look on the bright side."

"What bright side?" Hikari asked.

"Spades didn't own a gun back then." Hikari stared at the woman. "Oh, you didn't know he has a gun."

"News to me."

"Can I ask you a really personal question?" Amber asked, turning serious in a heartbeat.

"Okay," Hikari replied.

"You had boob job, right?" Hikari blushed at the other woman's up front question.

"Yeah," she managed. This wasn't a subject she enjoyed, but she had long ago come to terms with it.

"Why?" Amber asked. It was a question that Hikari really hated. "I mean, Spades holds you in really high regards. He was a little disappointed." Hikari looked down. Finding out she had ruined someone's impression of her wasn't doing anything for her already poor mood.

"I got them after I broke up with my boyfriend," Hikari answered. "I was so disgusted with myself that I had them done. The surgeon wasn't exactly the strictest for laws so I'm lucky that everything turned out right."

"You don't like them?" Amber asked. Hikari smiled slightly. Was she really that transparent?

"It's hard to be taken seriously with large breasts," she replied. "I've made myself into a sex symbol and that's how men treat me. I'd get them removed, but I'm terrified of the surgery and not as headstrong as I was back then."

"If you want to make a list of names I'm sure Spades wouldn't mind explaining how bright and talented you are," Amber offered. Hikari had to laugh at that. She wasn't sure if it was the joke, or the fact that the offer involved, of all people, Shinji Ikari threatening someone.

"He's a good guy."

"I wouldn't go that far," Amber commented. "He just likes you and hates any kind of discrimination. It's how he works. When he doesn't like something he goes after it. Usually that something isn't a good thing."

"So we just have similar beliefs," Hikari stated.

"Yeah. Now I'm bored and you're depressed. Let's dance. I'll show you the full nelson my dad taught me if anybody gets too grabby, or grabby at all."

(:ii:)

"Damn it." Spades patted himself down and sighed. He had forgotten his matches.

"Need a light?" Spades turned and saw a woman standing not to far away. She was wearing a beautiful evening gown and large sunglasses.

"Yeah."

"Here." The woman held out a fancy gilded lighter and Spades leaned forward. The flame clicked on and he leaned back.

"Thanks."

"No problem," the woman replied as she lit a cigarette. "Smoking is bad for you."

"Hypocrite," Spades stated. The woman laughed and took a drag from her cigarette.

"I've been going too long to stop now. What's you excuse?"

"In my line of work these things are the least of my worries." Spades released a cloud of toxic smoke and leaned back against the wall.

"Yours is better."

"Yeah." The woman ran a hand through her red hair. "All those reporters were here for you."

"What?" She looked surprised.

"The reporters," Spades repeated. "They were here because you're here, right?"

"Yeah," the woman said. "Price of fame I guess. It's not as great as I hoped it would be."

"At least you got where you wanted to," Spades commented. He took a final drag on his Gold and Mild. It was best to leave now.

"I'm Doctor Asuka Langley Sohryu," the woman said as she held out her hand.

"I know," Spades replied. He tugged his left glove off with his teeth and stubbed out the smoldering tip of his cigar against the thick skin of his palm. Asuka's eyes moved to his face and Spades quickly looked away. Unfortunately he had forgotten all about that damned ID badge pinned to his vest.

"Ikari."

"Doctor Ikari if you would," Spades stated as he pulled his glove back on.

"What?"

"Doctor," Spades repeated. He glanced back and saw that Asuka was staring at him. He glanced at his watch. "Well it was nice seeing you again. Let's try this again in ten years." He turned to head back into the school, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

It would have been easy to shake her off, breaking her wrist or a few fingers would also be fairly easy. Spades did neither because neither were his style. He didn't run, not anymore at least, and he didn't attack when not provoked. "Please Shinji. Stay and talk to me." Spades turned and looked her dead in the eye.

"I don't have anything I want to talk to you about," he stated. She flinched at that, but Spades didn't care.

"Then maybe you could listen to me talk."

"Let me see your lighter again."

"What?"

"I'm less irritable if I'm smoking," Spades explained.

"Oh." Asuka quickly managed to dig the lighter out of her purse and fumbled to get it open. Spades lit his Gold and Mild.

"Talk."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Ah, another chapter done. This is quite an amusing little side adventure. I'm kind of liking how the characters are coming along.


	11. Chapter Eleven: The Reunion Pt 2

I really don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Eleven: The Reunion Pt. 2

"Well." Spades took a drag and glanced at the woman beside him. Normally he was a relatively patient person. The operant word was relative.

"I have some friends inside that I don't want to keep waiting," he stated.

"Please!" Asuka blushed as her exclamation and took a deep drag on her cigarette. "I guess I should apologize."

"Nothing else you could really do I suppose." Spades exhaled through his nose and stared at the twin funnels of smoke. "You can't change history."

"What's past is past," Asuka agreed.

"I didn't say that," Spades replied. "What hurt in the past can still hurt in the present. For a smart person what's history is never truly past."

"You've become rather introspective," Asuka commented.

"Curse of seeing the worst in humanity," Spades replied. That was true enough. A life without love could lead to some rather startlingly clear insight.

"I see," Asuka stated. She took a deep drag on her cigarette and dropped the filter to the ground. She reached into her bag and pulled out her gold cigarette case. She pulled out another cigarette and lit it. "There's nothing I can do to redeem myself is there?"

"Redeem yourself?" Spades asked. "This is your first time seeing me in six years and in all likely hood we'll never meet again. Why the hell would you want to redeem yourself? Guilty conscience?"

"Yeah," Asuka stated flatly. "Even now I guess it's all about me, right Shinji?" Spades took another drag of his Gold and Mild.

"I doesn't matter," he stated. "I don't blame your for anything. Conscience clean."

"But. . ."

"I don't blame you," Spades interrupted, turning to look her in the eye. "You were sick back then. It wasn't your fault."

"But it was!" Asuka stated vehemently. "I was sick, but all those things I did to you. . ."

"It was because you were sick," Spades stated. "All illnesses have their symptoms. You couldn't have done anything about them any more then a man with a flu can do about a fever."

"But a man can take medication."

"So are you," Spades stated. "You seem pretty rich. Gyrecil?" Asuka froze. "That's it, right? I attended a few lectures on it, even met the chemist behind it."

"They changed the name for marketing," Asuka replied quietly. "Its called Zanthia now."

"Catchy."

"Isn't that the point of marketing?"

"I suppose so." Spades frowned as he watched Asuka nearly consume her cigarette.

"Why are you so understanding?"

"You weren't the only one suffering mental distress," Spades stated. "I'm not proud of a lot of things I did back them. I was really fucked up." Spades chuckled dryly. "In retrospect, I don't think anyone working at NERV was really playing with a full deck."

"You've changed a lot," Asuka commented.

"Everybody does," Spades replied.

"You're really a doctor?" Asuka asked. Spades nodded. "Of what?"

"Psychology."

"Why?"

"Well I've always found psychology interesting," Spades stated. "After all, I grew up surrounded by text book cases of hundreds of mental diseases." Asuka winced slightly, probably feeling rightfully implicated. "I'm going back inside."

"I'll probably be out here for a while," Asuka replied. "I have a lot to think about." For a moment Spades wondered exactly what he should do. Finally he simply extended his hand.

"It was nice talking to you."

"Not seeing me?" Asuka asked, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "A lot of men would give their eye teeth to see me up close and personal like you did." Spades kept himself in check, not wanting to mention that a lot of men hadn't known her as a teenager.

"This from the society that also enjoys pop music," he stated.

"Bad example I guess."

(:ii:)

"There's Spades." Hikari turned and saw the dark-haired man step into the auditorium.

"Long cigarette break."

"He's a chain smoker," Amber stated. "He never has only one at a time."

"He's going to die young."

"He will," Amber agreed, "but not from smoking."

"I guess not," Hikari replied. "After all, in his job he gets guns pulled on him so often that he makes jokes about it."

"That guy didn't pull a gun on him," Amber stated dismissingly. "He just kind of showed it off."

"And what would Shinji have done if that man had pulled his gun?" Hikari asked. Amber's mouth opened to answer, but she stopped herself.

"You don't want to know."

"I thought you would say that." Hikari accidentally bumped into someone. "Sorry."

"It's not a problem," the man replied. "Hikari?" Hikari froze and turned to face the man. His dark eyes widened. "It is you." Hikari scowled as she saw his eyes sweep downwards.

"Well hello Touji."

"The asshole?" Amber asked. Touji turned and stared at Amber.

"Who are you?"

"I'm her girlfriend," Amber stated as she slipped an arm protectively around Hikari's waist. "So he's the asshole, right?"

"He's the asshole," Hikari replied. "It's not really very nice to see you Touji. Good bye."

"Wait!" Hikari stared at the hand on her shoulder. Then she stared at the gloved hand that had closed, like a bear trap, around Touji's wrist.

"Suzuhara. Great to see you buddy." Hikari turned and saw Shinji standing beside her. He was smiling. It terrified her. "Hassling my girls?"

"Your girls?" Touji repeated, turning to look at Hikari.

"Yeah," Hikari replied. She carefully pulled Shinji's hand away from her ex.

"I just want to apologize," Touji stated.

"Do you want to hear him apologize?" Shinji asked.

"Not really."

"End of conversation," Shinji stated. He turned and led Hikari and Amber away.

"Hey Spades?" Amber asked.

"Yeah?"

"Remember how I tell you to smile?"

"Yes."

"If that's how you smile then you should never smile again," Amber stated.

"I'm alright with that."

(:ii:)

Amber looked between her two friends as the worked their way through several drinks. "So, who was that?" She knew who he was, but it was as good a place to start this conversation as any other was.

"My ex boyfriend."

"An old acquaintance." Amber had never known that those particular words could be spoken so coldly.

"Okay." She sipped at her bourbon. "Looks like you were right Spades. This is a waste of time."

"Wrong," Spades stated. "Thanks for talking me into this."

"Wow. That's the first time you've thanked me since I gave you that old Colt single action my dad kept in the office."

"I suppose that's right," Spades said. "Hey Hikari?"

"Yeah?"

"I apologize if I was too overbearing back there."

"You were fine," Hikari stated. "Thanks a lot Shinji."

"Call me Spades. My friends call me Spades."

"Alright," Hikari replied with the first non-forced smile that she had made since before they had run into that dark-haired guy.

"Asuka is around here somewhere," Spades continued. "I'm sure she'd love to see you."

"Asuka?" Amber repeated.

"You two met?" Hikari asked.

"We had a little talk," Spades replied. "She got some help. I'm empty. You two want anything else to drink?"

"No," Hikari replied. "You two are blitzed and I'm going to have to drive home."

"Taxi," Spades stated.

"Gin and Tonic," Hikari replied.

"You know what I like," Amber added.

"Yeah," Spades answered. "Be right back." He quickly disappeared into the crowd.

"Are you two going out?" Amber gagged as the burning liquid in her glass went down the wrong path.

"No!"

"Oh. It's just that you two seem so comfortable around each other," Hikari explained.

"We were really good friends in college," Amber explained. "When we met I was having a lot of trouble in school. He started to tutor me."

"You like him though."

"Don't you start," Amber growled. "I get that enough from my secretary."

(:ii:)

"Three Gin and Tonic, eight Bourbon, and twelve more of whatever the hell you gave me last time."

"Coming right sir," the bartender replied.

"You're quite a drinker." Spades spared the woman next to him a glance. Much to his relief she didn't have the star struck look of most of the woman he had talked to. She looked. . .rather sad.

"Not that much," Spades replied. "I'm ordering for a few of my friends as well."

"Well I hope you all have a ride home."

"Don't worry about it," Spades stated. He gave the woman a more careful glance and felt his stomach clench.

"Can we talk Shinji?"

"I'd rather not talk to you," Spades stated. "I don't need any more justifications on your actions from you."

"What I did was wrong," Ruri Nelson began.

"I don't care," Spades growled at his ex-girlfriend.

"But you don't understand," Ruri pleaded.

"Sure I do," Spades stated. "He had a bigger dick, or more money, or a nicer car, or some shit. I understand perfectly. A big part of my job is being paid to follow people who are cheating on their significant others. I'm also paid for protection when it comes time to confront that person. I've heard all the damn excuses."

"That's not right!" Ruri snapped.

"Hear her out please." Spades stared at the man who had moved to stand next to Ruri.

"So you're still together," he commented pleasantly.

"We've been married for three years," Touji replied quietly.

"Good for you," Spades stated. "Happy fucking trails. What the hell do you want from me, my forgiveness? You can go fuck yourselves, or each other. Like I said, I don't care." The bartender returned, carrying a platter covered in glasses. "The same stuff?"

"Yes sir," the bartender replied. "The blue one is different though. I figured you might like it, but if you try it. . .don't drive home." Spades nodded his thanks and handed the man a fairly substantial tip.

"You two listen," he stated simply. "I don't want to ever hear from either of you. Neither does Hikari. We don't care that you didn't have the balls or the brains to break up with us so you could fuck around in public." He glanced at Touji. "Frankly, from you? I wasn't too surprised. I hope you've managed to reign in your god damned hormones." He turned and made his way around the dance floor just in case they tried to pursue him. Spades frowned at the feeling in his chest.

'I didn't even know that I could feel like this anymore.' He shrugged it off. He should thank them. Pain was the only thing that let him know that he was still human anymore.

(:ii:)

Amber glanced up as Spades appeared with the drinks. He didn't look happy. Well, he was never happy, but there was something that made him look more pissed then ever. "You look annoyed."

"Ran into someone I didn't like," Spades replied.

"Oh no," Hikari murmured. "That woman right?"

"You got it."

"Okay," Amber growled. "What the fuck is going on?"

"My ex," Spades stated simply.

"Wow, you both have shitty love lives." Amber watched as Hikari and Spades shared a look.

"Actually our love lives are kind of intertwined." Amber stared at them. Then it hit her.

"You're ex," she began, pointing at Hikari, "and your ex," she continued, pointing at Spades, "together." Spades nodded. "And you're ex was his best friend, so your girlfriend left you for your best friend?"

"Well," Spades stated, "she never left me. She just liked fucking him."

"Oh." Amber picked up a bourbon and took a drink. "Ouch."

"And they're, apparently, quite happily married," Spades added.

"Well good for them." Amber watched as Hikari put back an entire glass of alcohol. "Who's up for more dancing?"

"Uh oh," Amber commented.

"Best go along," Spades whispered. "She can be rather forceful."

(:ii:)

"You should find someone for Hikari to dance with."

"Hm?"

"I said you should find someone for Hikari to dance with," Amber repeated. There was a slow song playing and most of the dancers had paired off. "I'd love to have her dancing with us, but people might think that's a little weird."

"I see." Spades spotted Hikari sitting by herself drinking. He did feel bad about cutting her out, even if he hadn't meant to. Spades looked around again and spotted the man he was looking for. "I'll be right back." He stepped out of Amber's arms and moved off the dance floor.

"Oh, hello Ikari."

"Hey Yuuske," Spades stated. "Not dancing?"

"I'm not a fan of dancing," Yuuske replied.

"You are now." Spades jerked Yuuske to his feet. "I'm going to set you up with a very sweet and beautiful woman and you're going to dance with her."

"What?" Yuuske squeaked. "I don't dance."

"You do now," Spades hissed. "Get it?" Yuuske nodded quickly. "The only terms are that you will not touch her inappropriately. She has had a bit to drink and if I find out you did anything then I will kill you."

"What are you, her brother?"

"No. I'm a very astute detective and a minor sociopath," Spades stated. "That's her." Yuuske turned.

"Wow."

"Behave."

"Right." Spades watched Yuuske make his way across the room. He talked to Hikari for a moment and she glanced up at Spades. He smiled for her and she rolled her eyes, but accepted Yuuske's hand. Yuuske glanced at Spades and Spades drew a finger over his throat while scowling. Yuuske nodded and Spades walked back onto the dance floor. Amber looked like she was near hysterics.

"I didn't mean bully someone into it."

"I didn't bully him," Spades stated as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I simply explained the consequences for touching her."

"That's a good idea I guess," Amber stated. She looked around and leaned forward, her head resting on Spades' chest. "You drunk?"

"Yeah," Spades replied, he had a pretty good idea where this was going.

"So am I," Amber stated. "Want to go find a quiet place and fool around?" Spades sighed. It was tempting. Not like it was the first time they had ended up drunkenly pawing at each other.

"Oh, what the hell?"

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Well, that pretty much fills out the last of the back story. Come on, you know Touji would do something like that.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Tricked

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Twelve: Tricked

"In here." Spades toed the sliding door open and managed to stumble in without removing his hands from Amber's waist.

"Where are we?" Amber panted as her lips went to Spades' throat.

"My old homeroom," Spades answered as he kicked the door shut and pushed Amber up onto the vacant teacher's desk.

"Kinky," Amber commented as she wrapped a leg around his hips and drew him closer.

"Mm," Spades hummed as he nipped at her throat.

"Oh! We're doing this more often," Amber managed. "Maybe we should try a romantic relationship again."

"The last time nearly ended any kind of relationship," Spades pointed out as his hands went to the straps of her evening gown and tugged them down her arms. "We'll talk about this later."

"Right. Oh my God!"

"I was wondering where you were keeping that," Spades commented dryly as he tugged Amber's Black Window from the holster strapped to her inner thigh.

"A girl's got to have a little protection," Amber panted.

"Yeah."

"Hold still." Spades frowned as he felt his boss's hands run through his hair.

"What are you doing?"

"I hate your God damn hair style," Amber stated as she managed to comb most of the gel out. Spades frowned as he bangs flopped into his face. "Much better," Amber stated as she wiped her hands on the desk to get rid of the gel.

"You're an odd girl," Spades commented.

"And you're strait," Amber stated.

"Have we ever done this sober?" Amber pouted as he shot a hole in her logic yet again.

"Why can't you ever let me win?" she demanded.

"Because then you'd stop trying," Spades stated.

"Well, at most you're bi." A soft rattling sound filled the room and Spades whipped around as the door slid open. The man on the other side stared at them. Spades stared at the pistol in his hand.

"Uh. . ." the man managed brilliantly.

"Close the fucking door!" Amber snapped. "We're busy you pervert." That snapped him out of it.

"Shinji Ikari. You are to come with me."

"Give me a couple of minutes," Spades replied.

"Now," the man growled, leveling his gun. Spades scowled. He was in a rather awkward position, mainly because he was worried about what would happen if he tried to fire Amber's revolver. He could kill the man easily, but the risk to Amber wasn't acceptable.

"Well that's not very nice." The man's eyes widened and Spades saw his body stiffen. "Get in the room." The man stepped inside and Spades saw Yuuske standing behind him with a pistol pressed against the back of the man's skull. In a single fluid motion Yuuske raised his weapon and brought it down on the back of the man's skull.

"Where's Hikari?" Shinji asked.

"She's back at your table," Yuuske replied as he tucked his pistol into his suit coat. "I saw this guy following you, so I followed him." Yuuske turned to look at them and then a blush spread across his cheeks. He turned quickly and stared at the wall. "Make yourself decent!"

"Huh?"

"Chief," Spades began. It was then that Amber realized what was wrong and clamped her arms over her bare breasts.

"We can explain everything."

"I'm sure you can," Yuuske replied dryly. "You clothed yet?"

(:ii:)

"What's the plan?" Yuuske asked. Spades peered into the crowded auditorium and frowned.

"We have to get through all that to get to the exit," Spades replied. "You go find Hikari and make sure she gets to her hotel safe and sound."

"What about you?" Yuuske asked.

"I'll be fine," Spades replied as he tightened the bands holding his sleeves in position, namely out of his way. "They won't go for their weapons in such a crowded environment, would they?"

"They may, but I doubt they'll fire," Yuuske said. "Maybe mace. What about you?"

"I'm staying with Spades," Amber replied, adjusting Spades' coat around her thin frame. "He'll need some backup."

"Alright," Yuuske replied. "I'm not sure if they're going to go for a public apprehension or not, so stay on your toes."

"Right." Spades pushed the door open and stepped into the massive, crowded room. He pulled the brim of his fedora down over his eyes and started across the room. "You should go with Yuuske."

"I'm staying with you," Amber stated. "We'll get back to the hotel, pack our shit, and get the hell out of this country."

"Shinji Ikari!" Spades turned and saw a black-suited man moving towards him with something clenched in his outstretched hand. "You are under arrest!"

"Things are never that easy," Spades replied. He quickly realized what was in the man's hand, a can of mace. Spades struck fast, his foot connecting with the man's hand and sending the black canister flying. The man reached under his coat to grab something and Spades slammed the flat sole of his foot into the man's kneecap.

He went down screaming and Spades made sure he wouldn't get back up with a kick to the head. "Let's go!" Amber grabbed his hand and began dragging him through the suddenly motionless crowd. It was due to this unexpected movement that he never saw the second agent coming.

"Freeze!"

"Fuck." Spades managed as a pretty damn decent right hook connected with his face and he was knocked to the floor. He cradled his cheek and tried to get to his feet. He never got a chance as the man slammed his foot into Spades' ribs. He felt something give and the coppery taste of blood fill his mouth. He managed to grab the man's shin and shove his foot into the man's crotch. Not fair, but then again, life wasn't fair. The man crumpled to his knees and Spades shot to his feet. He landed another kick dead under his chin and knocked the man flat on his back.

"Cheap shot," Amber commented.

"It worked," Spades growled. His ribs were killing him. "Come on." He grabbed Amber by the arm and led her through the silent crowd towards the doors leading to the rest of the school. Unfortunately they were locked, fortunately they weren't very sturdy. Spades raised one foot and quickly opened both doors with a solid kick. "How the hell are we getting back to the hotel?"

"You can hotwire cars, right?" Amber demanded.

"Yeah." He looked around the empty entry hall and moved to the front door. It was locked. "Damn it." Spades raised a foot and slammed it into the glass door's frame. It burst open with the screech of wrenching steel just like the first.

"A little more stealth wouldn't kill you," Amber stated.

"It might," Spades growled. He edged his way out of the building and looked around. "Clear." He stepped outside and began to walk around the building. There would be plenty of cars to hotwire in the parking lot.

(:ii:)

Yuuske frowned and glanced down at the man crumpled at his feet. This was turning out to be such a bother. He kneeled and tugged the man's black mask off. "Hinkins!" His eyes fluttered open, but seemed unable to focus. 'Maybe I hit him too hard,' Yuuske wondered. "What are you doing here Hinkins?"

"We're here to capture Shinji Ikari," Hinkins answered dazedly. "What hit me?"

"I don't know," Yuuske stated. "Are you aware of the fact that you do not have the authority to arrest anyone?"

"I'm under direct orders from the top," Hinkins stated. Yuuske sighed and straightened up. So, Ikari was willing to risk everything with a direct order.

"How foolish." Yuuske pushed the sliding door open and stepped out into the hallway. With a paper trail there would be no escape for Ikari this time. NERV was going down.

(:ii:)

Spades peered around the corner and stared at the two men standing a few feet away. Neither was looking in his direction. He moved quickly and quietly. Neither knew he was there until he bashed their heads together and they slumped into sweet unconsciousness. "Clear." Amber stepped around the corner.

"Are they alive?"

"For the moment," Spades replied. "Commander Ikari has always struck me as the kind of man who shoots those who fail."

"Charming." Amber stepped over the two men and stared at the school parking lot. "Anything we should be looking for in general?"

"A hardtop with a V8," Spades stated. "Definitely a big trunk if we kill anyone."

"Do the Japanese have a lot of V8s?" Amber asked.

"No." Spades replied flatly. "Damn Jap traps."

"This again?"

"Yeah, this again." Spades peeked around the corner of the building to make sure there were no guards to sound the alarm when they made a break for the cars. There was one and he was armored from head to toe. "Shit." Spades leaned back into hiding and tugged off his tie.

"What's wrong?" Amber asked.

"Goon in armor," Spades stated flatly as he unbuttoned his collar and tugged the switchblade out of his pocket.

"That the only way?" Amber asked.

"Yeah," Spades replied as he thumbed the button on the side and peeked around the building again. The man's back was turned and Spades stepped out from behind the building.

'From behind, go for the kidneys,' Spades' inner killer instructed. It reconsidered as Spades inspected the man's body armor. 'Grab the brim of the helmet, pull back, slit,' it decided finally. That sounded fine to Spades. He closed the distance quickly and reached out, over the man's shoulder to grab the brim of his helmet. "Freeze Ikari!"

"What?" Spades' arm wrapped around the man's neck and he hauled him around to use as a human shield. What he saw stopped him in his tracks. Five NERV agents, one had a pistol pressed against Amber's head.

"Drop the knife." Spades stared at them and felt something hot and dark boiling up in him.

"Fucking cowards," Spades hissed.

"Drop the knife or I'll blow her fucking head off!" the man spat. Spades held his right hand out and let the knife drop, still holding his shield tightly. He dropped his hand back to his side and used the shield to hide his movements as he went for his snubbie.

"Five."

"What?" the man demanded.

"Five of you," Spades stated louder. "I'll have one left for this guy." Then he tugged his snubbie out and fired.

(:ii:)

Amber's legs gave out from under her as her captor let go and she fell on her ass. . .hard. "You okay?"

"Fucking perfect," she managed. She was about to piss herself. Let Spades be the one to break arms when someone had a gun to his head, she'd much rather just sit down and think about all the things she always wanted to do and had never gotten around to doing. Another gunshot went off, followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground. Seconds later a strong hand wrapped around her arm and tugged her to her feet.

"We have to go now," Spades stated.

"Yeah," Amber replied as she hugged his coat tighter around herself and leaned against him. "Nice shooting."

"Thank you." Spades began leading them towards the vehicles.

"Ikari." Spades whipped around and nearly sent Amber tumbling to the ground. She managed to find her center of balance and turned to stare at the blue-haired woman who had called Spades' name.

"Ayanami," Spades replied coldly. "Forgive us for being brief. We're in a hurry."

"Why won't you talk to the Commander?" the blue-haired woman asked.

"Because I don't give a shit about what he has to say," Spades replied. "As soon as a few friends of mine hear about this attack you can be sure that your precious commander will be quite jobless." Suddenly Amber felt Spades' entire body stiffen and he tumbled to the ground.

"Spades!" She kneeled and stared down at the dazed man. "Spades?" She felt a hand creep between her legs and nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Quiet," Spades hissed. "Fucking tazer." She felt his fingers wrap around her revolver's handle and tug it loose. The silence of the parking lot was again broken by the loud crack of gunshots. Amber glanced over her shoulder and stared at the black suited man as he fell to the pavement. Then she turned back to Spades. "Don't look at me," the man grunted as he sat up and thrust her weapon into her hand, "that was the first time for me too."

"Oh." She stood as well as watched as Spades scooped up his snubby. He turned to look at the blue-haired woman.

"Nice diversion Ayanami. I never saw it coming." He raised his snubby and smiled pleasantly. "Goodbye." Then there was another gunshot and Amber watched as blood blossomed on Spades' white shirt.

(:ii:)

Spades was very close to seeing red, metaphorically speaking of course. That fucker had shot him. He watched as his precious snubby fell from his numb fingers and smacked into the ground again. Okay, now Spades was seeing red. He turned to face this new threat. "Alright asshole!" the new NERV agent spat. He sounded mad. Spades glanced at the other NERV agents and wondered why.

"Anything intelligent to say for your last words?" Spades demanded.

"What?" the man snapped.

"Good enough." Spades moved. Way back in college he had been quite fast as a boxer. That speed had only gotten better when he had started entering IPSC shooting competitions. As far as he knew, no one had his quick draw beat.

Spades drew the tiny 9mm semi from the small of his back and whipped it up with blurring speed. 'Draw fast, bare fare, aim slow, shoot slow,' Spades mind chanted. By the time his mantra was over his finger was already squeezing the trigger. It was so quick that the man's eyes hadn't even had a chance to widen before the one hundred and ten-grain jacketed soft point bullet impacted directly with his sternum. Spades' follow up shot, a habit he had with 9mm pistols, impacted mere centimeters from the first. The NERV man crashed to the ground and didn't move. "Nice shooting."

"Thanks," Spades grunted. He was feeling a little light headed. He glanced at his right arm and frowned. 'Damn that's a lot of blood.' Then he was staring at the barely visible stars overhead. When had he fallen?

(:ii:)

"Hang on Spades." Amber sighed in relief as she heard sirens growing steadily louder. "Help's on the way."

"I'm fine." Spades voice was a spaced out whisper.

"You might die from blood loss," Amber commented gently. 'Ugh, men and machismo. They'd all be dead if women weren't there to help.' The ambulance streaked into the parking lot and Amber waved them over. It screeched to a halt and two paramedic and driver bounded out quickly. They grabbed a gurney and rushed towards them. With professional ease they lifted Spades' large prone form onto the gurney. The blond-haired woman turned to look at Amber.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Amber replied.

"Does he have an allergies to medications or anything else we should know about?" the woman asked.

"No." Amber was fairly up-to-date on the health of her employees. Spades was a picture of perfect health. Well, perfect health with deteriorating lungs and kidneys. "I want to go with him."

"I think you should wait for the police ma'am," the woman stated. "They're going to want answers."

"Right. Where are you taking him?"

"Tokyo-3 hospital," the woman stated. She turned helped her partner wheel the gurney back to the ambulance. They slid Spades in and she climbed in after him. The door slammed and the large white vehicle peeled out, sirens wailing and lights flashing. It was only after they were gone that Amber heard another steadily increasing wail. Another ambulance pulled into the parking lot. It screeched to a halt and the paramedics climbed out.

"We were told there was a shooting around here ma'am," one of them stated.

"Another ambulance already came and picked up the only survivor," Amber explained. The lead paramedic frowned and turned to his partner. The other man shrugged.

"We were the closest ambulance ma'am," he stated.

"But they were just here," Amber replied. The paramedic jogged back to the ambulance and spoke to the driver for a minute. He came back with an even more worried face.

"No ambulance picked up a wounded man at this location," he stated.

"Then where's my friend?" Amber demanded.

"I don't know."

(:ii:)

Ritsuko Akagi stared down at the dark-haired man strapped to the gurney and frowned. "How's he doing Doctor Akagi?" the driver asked.

"Those Section-2 assholes did a number of him," Ritsuko stated, inspecting his bruised face.

"Well he did a number on them."

"Yeah," Ritsuko agreed. 'Never would have expected that from Shinji of all people.'

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. And thus Spades is captured. NERV will come to rue this day. Note: for the time this story is the only one I'll be updating till the arch ends. Then I'll update others.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Disappoint

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

Chapter Thirteen: Disappoint

Helen frowned and quickly set down her bags so she could pick up the phone. "Hello?"

"Helen?"

"Chief? Is something. . ."

"They kidnapped Spades!" Helen winced and rubbed her ear.

"They what?"

"They kidnapped Spades!" Amber snapped thankfully not quite as loud as before.

"Who?"

"NERV," Amber snapped. "He got shot and they tricked us by pretending to be an ambulance."

"Who got shot?"

"Spades!" Amber screamed. "Aren't you listening to what I'm telling you?" The door opened and Helen looked up to see Freddie walk into the apartment.

"You!"

"Me," he replied. "What's wrong?"

"NERV kidnapped Spades," Helen stated. "Get on the phone with that buddy of yours in Japan."

"Right." Freddie crossed the office in two massive steps and snatched up the other phone. He dialed quickly and began talking almost as soon as he finished.

"Freddie's getting a hold of the Naval Attaché," Helen reported. "Are you safe?"

"I'm fine," Amber replied. "I'm holding up with a friend of Spades'. I don't think they know where I am."

"Can you go to the police?" Helen asked.

"NERV owns them," Amber stated. "Now stop questioning me and get the fucking Marines in this city!"

"One Marine battalion coming right up Chief."

(:ii:)

Amber hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair. "Drink?" She glanced up and took the offered glass.

"Thanks."

"It's not a problem," Hikari responded. "What are your people doing?"

"One of my people is a former Navy SEAL," Amber explained. "He served in Panama with the current American Naval Attaché in Japan."

"What does that mean?" Hikari asked.

"Japan is a powerful nation, but they still try to maintain good relations with the US," Amber explained. "Kidnapping American citizens is not good relations."

"Do you think that will work?"

"It will or I'll just have to leak this story to the press," Amber stated with a smirk. "The civilians will demand something to be done on a legal level and the mob will start pulling strings."

"The mob?"

"Don't ask."

"I see." Amber frowned as someone knocked at the door. She snatched up her Black Window and drew the hammer back. She moved to the door and glanced through the peephole.

"Do you know any redheads?"

"What?"

(:ii:)

"How does he look Doctor Akagi?" Ritsuko glanced up from her clipboard and saw NERV's Sub-Commander as he walked into the small medical center.

"Excellent," Ritsuko stated. She glanced down at the man strapped to the hospital bed with an IV in his arm. Her eyes were momentarily caught on the Trojan warrior tattooed on the man's right shoulder, one of several on his chest, back, and arms. "He's stabilized incredibly fast. We had very little to actually do once he was brought here."

"I see," Kozo stated. "How's his physical health?"

"So far he's in perfect shape," Ritsuko stated. "We ran a full battery of tests and the results should be back soon."

"I see," Kozo stated as he stared down at the Third Child. Ritsuko glanced down and frowned. The Third Child had grown up a whole lot. Not someone Ritsuko even wanted to meet in a dark alley. "Looks like he's had it fairly rough," Kozo commented.

"You have no idea," Ritsuko stated as she glanced at the X-rays pinned to the wall. "This is his chest. The man who hit him is our martial arts instructor. His ribs should be shattered."

"They're only fractured," Kozo noted.

"Yeah," Ritsuko replied. "The only excuse I can come up with is that he's broken his ribs so many times that his body has overcompensated." Ritsuko turned her sharp eyes on Shinji. He certainly looked like a fighter; his knuckles were huge. Calluses like that took years to develop. "You said he was a boxer?"

"That's right," Kozo replied. "Are there any other injuries?"

"Hundreds," Ritsuko stated as she flipped the sheet on her clipboard. "Multiple jaw fractures, multiple wrist, shin and forearm fractures, three old gunshot wounds, dozens of what look like stab wounds, a scar that looks like he was hit with a bed of nails. . ."

"I meant recent," Kozo interrupted.

"Fractured cheek bone, four fractured ribs, and the gunshot wound," Ritsuko answer. "None of them are bad. The fractures are barely more then hairlines and the bullets missed all bones and vital spots. He'll be up and pissed in no time."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Kozo stated. "Can he be moved yet?"

"You could throw him off a train and he'd probably be fine," Ritsuko stated.

"I'll have Section-2 relocate him to holding cell."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Ritsuko stated.

"Why not?"

"The LCL has had a longer lasting affect on the bodies of the pilots then we anticipated," Ritsuko explained. "Their bodies burn through drugs at an astounding rate. The moment we take him off the drugs that are keeping him under, he's going to start recovering. He'll be up and pissed fast." A woman walked in and handed a clipboard to Ritsuko. She read it quickly. "His liver is in trouble and his lungs aren't in the best shape."

"We're going to have to risk moving him," Kozo commented. "We might have bigger problems soon."

"Like what?"

"The Americans."

(:ii:)

Gendo stared at the reports spread across his desk and scowled. This had not been a part of the plan. The door to the office opened and Gendo looked up to see his former sensei walk in. "The reports from the school?"

"Yes," Gendo answered. "How did he bring a gun into the country?"

"Something about international sporting events," Kozo stated. "Your son seems to have become a master of many rather destructive talents."

"Does this look like a sporting event?" Gendo demanded, shoving a picture into the older man's face. Kozo looked away, rather paler then normal. "How many are we looking at?"

"The eight in the parking lot were all DOA," Kozo began. "Along with them two more agents stationed outside suffered concussions, one of the agents inside has a shattered jaw and cheek bones, another has a low-grade concussion, and the third is in a coma. He isn't expected to wake up."

"How is the Third Child's health?"

"It's quite good actually," Kozo replied. "Much better then any of our men."

"I see," Gendo replied. Someone knocked and he scowled. He had specifically ordered not to be interrupted unless there was an emergency. "Enter." The door opened and one of Gendo's secretaries stepped inside. "What is it?"

"This just arrived sir." The secretary set down a fax on Gendo's desk and quickly walked out of the office. Gendo picked it up and scanned over it contents. Then he read them more carefully.

"What is it?"

"An official notice from the American Naval Attaché," Gendo replied. "It demands that we returned the Third Child."

"The woman that was accompanying him has many contacts and thus he had many contacts."

"Oh," Gendo replied.

"It was in the info packet I keep telling you to read," Kozo stated. "This is bad. What are you going to do?"

"We will deny that we have the Third Child," Gendo replied. "They have no proof."

"If they didn't have proof then they wouldn't be sending us official letters," Kozo corrected. "It must be that woman."

"We will have to find her," Gendo stated.

"I've had men scouring the city," Kozo stated. "They can't find her. Apparently, she's not without skills of her own."

(:ii:)

"Hello Asuka."

"Good morning," Asuka replied. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and frowned. She had gotten no sleep at all. "Have you found him?"

"What?" the woman Asuka didn't recognize asked.

"Shinji," Asuka clarified. "Have you found him?"

"How did you know?" Hikari asked.

"I spent all night trying to find him after you two left the building, leaving two Section-2 agents for dead," Asuka explained. "One of my bodyguards was on break and saw Shinji get loaded into an ambulance. I've checked every hospital and he isn't in any of them."

"You had a bodyguard out there?" the other woman demanded. "What the hell is wrong with him? Why didn't he help us?"

"Well," Asuka began, "he doesn't speak Japanese. He wasn't sure exactly who the good guy was and who was the bad guy. If he had jumped in it probably would have been for NERV; after all, the good guys rarely try to sneak up on people and slit their throats."

"What good guys are you talking about?" the woman demanded. "That's how the good guys work where we're from. Now who the hell are you?"

"I'm Asuka Sohryu," Asuka stated. For a moment she saw the woman's eyes narrow. Well, if she was Shinji's friend then she had no doubt heard how Asuka used to treat him.

"I'm Amber Young," the woman said finally. "Now what do you propose we do about Spades?"

"Who?"

"Shinji," Hikari cut in. "People call him Spades, get it?"

"Yeah," Asuka replied. "As for what we're going to do; well, I have an old friend who just so happens to work for NERV."

(:ii:)

Misato Katsuragi frowned and finished her beer. Who would be coming by this early? She opened the door and stared at the woman on her doorstep. "Can I help you?"

"Hi Misato," the redhead stated. "Still a lush I see." Misato glanced at the empty beer can in her hand and then up at the woman.

"Asuka?"

"Yeah. Long time no. . ." Misato grabbed the woman in a tight hug.

"Damn. It's been forever!" She released the young woman. "Come in, all of you! Come in!"

(:ii:)

Johnny frowned as he watched his boss pace back and forth. Something was agitating the larger man. "What's up Boss?"

"I haven't gotten a call from Spades," Giovanni stated. "He is several hours late now." Johnny's frown deepened. Spades wasn't the type to be late.

"I'll start up then, shall I?" Giovanni stopped pacing, all worry gone from his expression.

"Go to the agency and collect Spades' weapon," he ordered. "A private plane will be awaiting you at the normal airport. Spades is a part of my family, try not to disappoint." Johnny grinned. Late wasn't Spades' word and disappoint wasn't Johnny's.

"Am I on a lease in Yakuza territory?" he asked.

"Spades has already arranged all of that," Giovanni stated. "The man has more connections in organized crime then the damn CIA."

"Well that's just impressive."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Here the story is starting to splinter. Now I have a few threads to take care of. I'll try not to disappoint.


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Above the Law? So?

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari:

Chapter Fourteen: Above the Law? So?

"I guess Doc Akagi was wrong. He's still out cold."

"Doc Akagi is never wrong." Spades listened to them. Only two? That was an insult. Spades didn't take kindly to be insulted. Apparently neither of the men took too kindly to having the skulls smashed together. They slumped to the ground and didn't move.

"Stupid fuckers." Spades cursed as pain raged through his right arm. He made a quick revision to his mental kill list. Ayanami now took precedent over Chief. He owed her a full set of lumps for distracting him.

Spades kneeled and searched both of the men. Neither was armed and neither carried any smokes. "Shit." Spades straightened up and glanced at his bandaged shoulder. Crimson was clearly visible through the layers of gauze. It hurt like a bitch. Spades stepped outside and frowned as he found himself staring down the muzzles of half a dozen automatic rifles. "Any of you got smokes?" The man in the lead wound up and slammed the butt of his rifle into Spades' head.

As the world swam Spades made another revision. The top spot of his kill list was occupied by some nameless, faceless NERV piece of shit. He would kill that man. Of course, they all looked alike. 'Have to kill them all,' Spades decided logically as everything went black.

(:ii:)

"Hello?" Johnny pushed the door open and stuck his head inside the office. "Anyone home?"

"Right over here sir," a young woman's voice called. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah." Johnny stepped into the office. He quickly recognized Spades' partner. "I'm here to pick up a lady for a friend of mine."

"Oh," the young woman sitting at one of the desks replied. "Who would that be?"

"Her." Johnny turned and stared at the cloth-covered bundle being handed to him.

"Thanks Mark." Johnny took the bundle and carefully unwrapped it. His eyes studied the polished chrome weapon and he quickly wrapped it back up.

"You know what will happen if she gets scratched, right?" Mark asked.

"I am very aware of the consequences." Back when Johnny had first met Spades it was because Spades had killed Giovanni's bodyguard. It took a special kind of man to kill a Mafia bodyguard in front of a Mafia boss. Fortunately for Spades, Giovanni hadn't liked that man anyway.

"Good luck," Mark commented.

"Thanks, but I don't need it." Johnny tucked the heavy old revolver into his pocket. "Those bastards at NERV, however, most certainly will."

(:ii:)

Spades sat up and groaned. His skull was killing him. 'I've had worse hangovers,' he decided sourly. 'Well, no need to worry about a concussion, thoughts are too clear for that.' He looked around the bright white room and stared at the brown-haired man sitting across the table from him. "Hello Shinji."

"Hey," Shinji rasped, examining the handcuffs keeping his hands behind his back. There was something familiar about the man, but Spades couldn't quite place it.

"NERV wants you back Shinji," the man stated, adjusting his glasses. "Why are you making this hard?"

"Because its my right," Spades stated. "Same as how I could kill you for holding me against my will." The man sighed and glanced around the interrogation room. He made a cutting motion across his throat at the mirror on the wall.

"I didn't want to do this," the man began. Yup, there was definitely something familiar about him.

"Yeah right," Spades grumbled.

"Your friend," the man began, "Miss Amber Young. . ."

"Bring her up at your own risk," Spades interrupted.

"Japan is a dangerous place anymore," the man stated, "especially for lone women."

"You can't find her, can you?" Spades asked. He knew they never would. Amber was too good, he had taught her himself.

"It'd be horrible if she was kidnapped by some street gang," the man continued. "You never know what a group of depraved. . ." Spades leapt to his feet and drove one foot into the table. It screeched across the floor, taking the man with it, and pinning him between it and the wall.

"I told you," Spades stated. He slammed his full weight into the table and the man coughed up blood. "It was at your own risk." The door burst open and four security guards rushed in with batons. Spades really hated batons. He hated them almost as much as tazers.

(:ii:)

Spades opened one eye and winced as light flooding into his sore brain. His skull was killing him. . .again. 'Someone's going to die,' he decided. He took in his surroundings. He was still in the room, but now there was a blonde-haired woman sitting against the far wall and he was chained to the chair. "Hello Shinji."

"Doctor Ikari if you would," Spades growled as he rolled his shoulders. He was starting to get cramps. Then there was the fact that there was a fucking bullet wound in one of them.

"Of course," the blonde replied. "I was hoping that we could talk like dignified human beings." Spades shuffled his bound hands slightly.

"Dignified," Spades repeated. "Well, I never really did expect any of you people to know the meaning of that particular word. You least of all." Spades saw the blonde's expression turned rather puzzled. That was fine. He didn't need to dignify her with an answer.

"Why won't you come back to NERV Shinji?"

"Because I don't give a shit." The blonde did a double take. "If I cared then I would have never left, would I have Doctor Akagi?"

"I suppose not," Ritsuko replied. "But, you don't understand the situation that NERV is in."

"I don't give a shit," Spades repeated. "You do not have the authority to detain me. Release me now and I will not kill you due to your status as someone ignoring my rights." The good doctor seemed as a loss for words to reply. She stared at him for a few more minutes before rising.

"You will have to cooperate Ikari."

"I don't have to do a damned thing," Spades stated. "I will destroy this entire fucking installation and I will be on the right side of the law."

"NERV is above the law," Ritsuko stated. "We have the UN's complete backing."

"You know what the means, right?" Shinji asked. "You're deniable. If NERV is exposed carrying out illegal operations, the UN will deny your existence and you're all _fucked_!"

"You're going to wish you agreed," Ritsuko hissed.

"So I can spend all my time bent over a desk like you?" Spades demanded. "Not my style lady." Ritsuko's face flushed a pissed off red. She covered the distance between them and slapped him. Spades had been hit harder by ten-year-olds, albeit ones he was training in a national junior boxing league. Ritsuko glared at him and walked out. Spades watched her go with a smirk. This was fun.

(:ii:)

"And that's our story Misato." Asuka watched as her words sank into her former guardian's brain.

"NERV really kidnapped Shinji?" she asked after a moment. Asuka understood her reluctance to understand. The older woman had pretty much given her life to NERV after all.

"We don't even know where they're holding him," Amber stated.

"There's only one place," Misato stated. "He has to be somewhere in NERV."

"Do you know where they would have him?" Asuka asked.

"NERV has ten detainment cells, but I doubt they would put someone they're illegally holding into one of them," Misato replied as she raked her brain. That must have meant that there were more holding cells. 'Jesus. Just how corrupt are they?' A shrill ring filled the air and Amber pulled out her cell phone.

"Hello? What's wrong? Oh shit." Amber flipped her phone shut. "Damn it."

"What's wrong?" Hikari asked.

"A friend of Spades is on the way," Amber stated.

"What's wrong with that?" Misato asked.

"Spades' friend is one of the top Mafia hit men in America," Amber replied. "Ah fuck. He had a backup plan."

"Isn't that good?" Misato asked. She was saving her question about the kinds of men Shinji had as friends for when they were talking face-to-face.

"It means that Spades' friend has Melody," Amber replied. "We have to stop him."

"Who's Melody?" Asuka asked.

"Melody is. . .well, she's Spades' weapon," Amber explained. "He was only carrying a snub nose .45 and a pocket 9mm because he wanted concealability."

"So Melody's a gun?" Misato asked.

"Yeah," Amber answered. "We can't let Spades get her while he's still being detained."

"He couldn't get it," Misato stated. "This friend guy could never get through security."

"You're wrong. He can and he will."

"Why can't Spades get a gun while he's in captivity?" Hikari asked. "Won't he use it to escape?"

"No," Amber replied flatly. "He'll use it to exact vengeance. Spades is an old fashioned cowboy. You wrong him and he will kill you."

"So he'll attack?"

"Yup."

(:ii:)

Martin Smiley was not happy. In fact he was pissed off. He hadn't been this pissed off since landing the position as the American Naval Attaché in Japan. It had seemed like a dream job. Now certain people were fucking with his dream. "They're ignoring the requests, aren't they?"

"Yes sir," Martin's secretary replied. Martin scowled. Fucking UN. Thought they could do anything they wanted.

"Get a team ready."

"We don't have proper authorization sir," Martin's secretary argued. Martin glanced out the window at the grounds of the American embassy. "We don't even have proof that NERV actually exists, let alone that they're holding this Ikari guy."

"They exist," Martin stated. Everyone really knew that NERV existed, even though they were officially a rumor.

"Well, we can't just attack them," Martin's secretary stated. "We need probable cause."

"We can use Delta or SEAL Team Six," Martin stated. The unofficially military units would be perfect for this op.

"You don't have that kind of authority." Martin grinned. It was time to call in an old favor.

"Let's ask someone who does, shall we?"

"The only person who could authorize that is the President sir."

"Exactly."

(:ii:)

"Welcome to Japan sir."

"Thank you," Johnny watched as the young woman stamped his passport.

"Enjoy your stay sir."

"I wish I could," Johnny replied with a smile. He took his passport and tucked it into his jacket. He turned and continued past customs. A man in a black suit fell into step beside him.

"Johnny?"

"Tsubasa?" Johnny replied.

"Yeah," the man answered. "I've been ordered to stay with you and make sure you don't disrupt business in Tokyo-3."

"But I'm here to make a major disruption," Johnny replied with a grin. "Well, I'm going to start one anyway."

"You know what I mean," Tsubasa stated. "Once you are out of this city you are no longer under our protection. The Yakuza and Mafia will be enemies again."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Johnny replied.

"Nor would I," Tsubasa stated as he moved into the lead. Johnny followed him through the winding halls of Tokyo-3. "He is rather amazing, isn't he?"

"Spades?" Johnny asked. Tsubasa nodded. "Well, he's got two major warring factions to work together, so, yeah. He's pretty amazing."

"The Yakuza could use a man like that."

"Don't bother," Johnny replied with a laugh. "He's already part of the family."

"What a shame."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Yeah, it's short. I have some bad writers block at the moment, which is really unusual for me.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Break Out

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari:

-Chapter Fifteen: Break Out

Spades jerked away and immediately wished that he were still unconscious. He felt like shit. Those bastards had knocked him up with something powerful. He looked across the table and suddenly realized why. "Third Child."

"That's Doctor Ikari!" Spades roared, making the bearded man's bodyguards jump.

"It is interesting that you became a full American citizen in such a short amount of time," Gendo began, not looking up from the file in his hand.

"Not really," Spades stated. "I had information. I gave it to them in exchange for citizenship." Gendo's head shot up. "The Americans were very interested in NERV." Spades smirked and Gendo's face contorted in rage. "You were sold out by your own son. That's gotta hurt."

"You little shit!" Gendo shrieked. He pulled back his fist and punched Spades in the face. It didn't even have the force to knock Spades out of his seat, but he did feel his lip tear. He turned back to Gendo and gave him a bloody grin.

"Is that all you've got?" he demanded. "Guess I got my right hook from mom, eh?" With a sudden convulsive movement Gendo dragged a pistol out of his jacket.

"Shut your filthy mouth!" he bellowed. "You don't have the right to talk about her."

"Fucking shoot me!" Spades bellowed. "Come on you fucking coward!" Gendo aimed the pistol at Spades and pulled the hammer back.

"Sir!" one of the bodyguards snapped. Gendo froze. He took a breath and tucked his pistol back into his coat, suddenly calm and collected.

"You will not get out of this that easily," he stated flatly.

"You're going to wish I had," Spades said, a feral grin on his face. "You're going to pray to your miserable God and ask him why you didn't pull the trigger." Spades threw back his head and laughed. He laughed until one of the bodyguards slammed the butt of his rifle across his face and sent him spiraling into the darkness.

(:ii:)

"There is someone here to see you sir." Martin frowned and stared at the intercom on his desk. He pushed the button to reply.

"I'm in the middle of a meeting," he stated.

"I know sir," Martin's secretary reported. "She says that you're going to want to talk to her." Martin glanced up at the man standing at ease in front of his desk. Commander Phillip Norton just shrugged.

"What's her name?" Martin asked.

"Her name is Colonel Misato Katsuragi of NERV." Martin froze.

"Send her in." The door opened a moment later and a beautiful raven-haired woman strode into the room. "Colonel Katsuragi. . ."

"Here." Martin stared at the small USB on his desk.

"What's this?" he asked.

"This is floor plans for the Geo-Front and Central Dogma," Misato stated. "I bet you were having a rather hard time finding them."

"That's correct ma'am," Phillip stated.

"This is Commander Norton of SEAL Team Six," Martin stated as he stared at the woman. "What's the price?"

"You go in there and you get Shinji Ikari out alive," Misato stated. Martin frowned. That was top secret information.

"Shinji Ikari?" he asked.

"Don't," Misato growled. "The man who contacted you works for Shinji's employer. She is currently waiting outside."

"Amber Young?" Martin asked, despite himself. The Colonel nodded.

"She's in danger in this country," she explained. "She needs to leave with Shinji, or NERV will try to retaliate." Martin considered the woman carefully.

"You will need protection as well." Misato hesitated, obviously not having thought about that. "I can get you residency. That should keep you safe for the time."

"Thank you."

"What's your stake in this?" he asked after a moment.

"I owe Shinji a lot." The Colonel's steel exterior wavered. Phillip picked up the USB.

"I'll get this down to the analyst," he stated as he walked out of the room. Martin leaned back in his seat. This was an interesting turn of events.

"After this there will probably be no NERV," he commented.

"I don't care," Misato stated. "I want to see the top brass burn as war criminals." Martin smiled.

"We have something in common."

(:ii:)

Spades stared at the ceiling. He carefully reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. It straightened with a crunch and Spades' eyes watered. He sat up and blew semi-dried blood out of his nose and onto the floor. "Ouch."

This was the last straw. Spades glanced around the cell. Spotting no cameras, he dug the ceramic knife out of his shoe. He gripped it carefully and moved to stand by the door. It didn't matter that he didn't know when the next person would come. All he knew was that someone would eventually come. He would stay there until then.

Footsteps rebounded off the walls outside the cell and filtered in through the crack under the door. 'That was quick.' He heard the sound of a card swiping over the lock and readied himself. "Spades?" Spades nearly tripped over his own feet.

"Johnny?" The door opened and Johnny stood, silhouetted in the doorframe. Spades quickly controlled his inrush of gratitude and happiness at seeing the man. "Where the fuck have you been?"

"Nice to see you too," Johnny replied. "I know something that will cheer you up." Spades stared at the bundle being offered to him. He took it and carefully unwrapped it.

"Melody."

"That's right," Johnny stated as he produced a belt. Spades pulled it on, examining the cartridge studded loops on the side opposite the holster. Just from the feel of her in his hand he could tell that Johnny had been thoughtful enough to load her.

"I owe you." Spades holstered Melody by his side, where she belonged.

"We're done with the owing stuff," Johnny stated. "We save each others' asses so often it gets confusing." Spades pulled back Melody's hammer.

"Coming with me?"

"Love to," Johnny stated, "but the boss doesn't want me picking fights with the United Nations." Shinji nodded in understanding. "One more thing."

"What?"

"The SEALs will be rolling in soon," Johnny stated. "Don't ask how I know, I just do. If you got any scores to settle then do it before they find you." Shinji nodded, accepting the suggestion.

"I'd better hurry then." Johnny nodded his understanding.

"Yeah, if the SEALs get here then they'll stop all your fun." Shinji grinned and stepped out of the cell. "Shit. Someone worked you over, huh?"

"Nothing I won't pay back in full," Shinji stated.

"Alright," Johnny replied. He glanced around and dug a suppressed 9mm pistol out of his coat. He offered it to Spades handle first. "It never hurts to be a little sneaky."

"You got to be shitting me." Johnny shrugged and tucked the weapon into his belt. "I got all the sneakiness I could need right here," Spades added, holding up his knife.

"Whatever floats your boat," Johnny replied. He reached into his jacket and dug out a cigar. He lit it and blinked dumbly at his empty fingers. Spades inhaled hard and sighed in relief as the toxic smoke filled his lungs. "Took your cigs, huh?"

"Yeah," Spades replied. Johnny dug out two more cigars and tossed one to him.

"For the road." Spades nodded his gratitude.

"Have any clothes I can borrow?" he asked, gesturing to his bare, heavily bandaged chest. Johnny shrugged off the coat he had been wearing and handed it over. Spades took it and slid it on. "This is mine."

"Amber had it," Johnny replied. "I didn't need to run into her yet, so I sneaked into the apartment she's staying at and took it."

"Then that's mine," Spades growled, glancing at the cigar Johnny was holding.

"Consider it payment," Johnny replied. "Go that way, catch the elevator, go four floors up, turn left, go about twenty yards, turn right, and it's the eighth door on your left. That's the armory. You can get your snubby there."

"Right. Johnny?"

"Yeah?"

"My hat."

"Right." Johnny snatched off the fedora he was wearing and tossed it to Spades. The brown-haired man caught it easily and pulled it on, adjusting the brim absently.

"See you around."

(:ii:)

Johnny watched as his friend started down the hallway. He disappeared into the elevator and Johnny sighed. He really wished that the boss had given him a full license to do as he wished. "Hey you!" Johnny pivoted, drawing his suppressed Wilson Combat .45 automatic. He fired twice and the two men crumbled to the ground.

"That was instinct." Johnny was already working on his excuse for when he got home. Giovanni would know he had killed someone, he always did. Johnny started down the hallway, tossing the suppressed 9mm he had offered to Spades, and pausing only to properly dispatch each NERV man with a bullet to the head and change magazines.

(:ii:)

Spades stretched his arms over his head and felt his back pop in a dozen different places. The elevator's door opened and Spades found him self face to face with a NERV security guard. "What?"

Spades lashed out with his left arm. The man blocked and Spades grabbed his forearm, pulling him close and slamming the knife into his left kidney. Spades jerked his knife out and the man's hands went to his wounded side, leaving his throat open. Spades struck again and the man went down.

"I hate knives," Spades told the man. "Knives are painful weapons. I would have just shot you if you hadn't surprised me." The man gurgled and went still. Spades sighed and wiped the blade of his knife on his pants leg. "Sorry."

(:ii:)

"Alright, listen up!" Phillip snapped. His team went deathly silent in an instant. Phillip glanced at the woman standing beside him. "This is Colonel Katsuragi. She will be briefing you on the area of operations."

"What kind of OP is this Commander?" someone called.

"This is a rescue mission," Phillip replied. "Colonel?"

"Right," Misato replied stepping forward. "Today you will be assaulting an extremely unusual location."

"We've seen plenty of unusual places ma'am," someone called. Phillip's hand shot up and he pointed at the man who had spoken. He quickly looked down, avoiding eye contact.

"Please continue," Phillip stated.

(:ii:)

Johnny checked the address on the piece of paper and knocked. The door opened and he found himself staring at a stunning redhead. "Uh. . .konich. . .konichiwu. No, that's not right."

"I speak English," the redhead stated.

"Thank Christ," Johnny stated. "I'm looking for a woman named Amber Young."

"Who are you?" the redhead demanded.

"I'm a hit man for the LA Mafia," Johnny stated. The redhead's face paled.

"Johnny?"

"Hello Miss Young," Johnny stated, smiling at the woman he had met a few days ago. The speed of what happened next shocked him.

"You gave Spades Melody, didn't you?" Amber demanded, shaking Johnny roughly.

"What. . .the. . .hell. . .did you. . .think I was. . .doing here?" Johnny managed. How the hell had she done that? He had killed bigger and stronger men then her with no problem

"Is it good to grab a hit man by his shirt and shake him?" the redhead asked. Amber stopped, seemingly realizing what she was doing. She let go and Johnny tried to make the world stop spinning, damn inner ear problems. "She got the drop on you."

"No she didn't! I just didn't want to hit a girl!"

"Bullshit," the redhead stated smugly. Johnny glared at her. "How'd you get past the MPs outside?"

"They're MPs outside?" Phillip asked. The redhead nodded. "Huh. Didn't notice. Kind of make you worry about you safety, huh?"

"Yeah," the redhead replied. "Step inside please."

(:ii:)

Amber watched as the man stepped into the apartment looked around, checking entrances and seizing up the room's occupants. "God damn. Spades is gay and he still gets prettier girls then me."

"I thought so," Asuka stated.

"He's not gay," Amber and Hikari stated. Then Hikari blushed brightly as all attention was turned on her.

"And why are you so sure?" Amber asked smugly.

"Uh. . ." Hikari began hesitantly. "He doesn't seem like he's gay."

"Yeah right," Amber snorted. "Did he know that tongue thing back then?" Hikari's blushed burned even brighter. "Drunk, right?"

"Right after we caught Touji and Ruri," Hikari replied hesitantly. "We didn't mention it afterwards."

"Well you just made me one hundred bucks," Johnny stated brightly.

"Is there anyone in LA who isn't making bets on whether or not Spades is gay?" Amber demanded.

"I don't think the boss is," Johnny replied. "He'll be kind of disappointed. I think he wanted Spades to meet his son and them to marry. That way Spades would be in the family by blood too." Amber stared at the man.

"Giovanni has a gay son?"

"Yeah," Johnny replied. "Nice guy. Great with a sawed off double barrel 10-gauge."

"Oh." Amber searched for the words in her train of thought that had just been derailed. Then she replayed what he said. "What do you mean by 'in the family by blood too?" she demanded.

"Spades is part of the Giovanni family," Johnny stated. "You didn't know that?"

"No." When Spades got back Amber was going to give him a rather stern talking to about his activities. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Spades wanted me to get you out," Johnny stated. "I'll be taking you to an American base where you'll meet up with Spades."

"The Military Police out there are already watching out for us," Amber stated.

"The guys I didn't notice?" Johnny asked. "Ah Christ. I can't leave you with them. Spades would kill me if you all died while they were playing grab ass."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. And the different branches begin to intertwine. Or some deep shit like that. Yank 'em and shank 'em!


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Ikari Unleashed

I don't own aynthing.

Detective Ikari

-Chapter Sixteen: Ikari Unleashed

"Ikari!" Spades turned and frowned as he saw several men in riot gear with pistols running towards him though the hallways of NERV. How had they found him so quick? "Don't move Ikari." Spades pushed his trench coat back and tucked it behind Melody's holster.

"Leave now and I won't kill you." In all honesty, Spades wantd to kill them all, but he did have a finite ammo supply. They all stopped and took up positions across the hallway with weapons leveled at him. Spades frowned. There were six of them. He was only going to get one shot at this.

"Unholster your weapon and drop it on the ground!" one of the men barked. Spades smirked.

"Do you have any idea how old this revolver is?" he demanded. "It doesn't have a drop safety. If I dropped it then I might get shot."

"Last warning Ikari!" Spades drew. His finger went straight to the trigger and his left hand forced the hammer back. He fanned the weapon, firing from the hip and taking down all six of the men in less than two seconds.

"See? I didn't get shot." Spades lowered Melody's feed gate and tilted the revolver back, letting gravity remove the spent brass from the chambers as he turned the cylinder. He plucked six more cartridges and began to load them. "You guys should have left." Spades holstered Melody and pulled his trench coat over her.

(:ii:)

Yuuske frowned as the alarms continued to go off. Apparently there was a terrorist loose in the Geo-Front. One terrorist wasn't a bad thing, well, it wouldn't have been a bad thing if somebody hadn't stolen the armory officer's keys. "Work faster."

"I'm working as fast as I can without damaging anything," the man kneeling in front of the key card reader commented.

"I don't have the authority to allow you to damage NERV property," Yuuske stated. The man grumbled and continued to prod wires trying to hotwire the door.

"Just get the damn door open," Yuuske growled. Inside he was smirking. Maybe Ikari would be able to kill the Commander. That would certainly simplify things. Without the Commander, all of NERV's insidious little plans would just dissolve.

(:ii:)

Phillip felt the slight bump of the VTOL gun ship setting down and threw open one of the side doors. "Go! Go! Go!" His men rushed out and began lining up on the tarmac. Misato climbed out as well and Phillip followed her.

"The van's right there," Misato commented.

"Fall out and get in the van!" Phillip ordered as he looked around the darkened area of the airport they were using.

"Dark night," Misato commented.

"Yeah," Phillip agreed. "All the better. After you ma'am." Misato nodded and climbed into the van's passenger seat. Phillip walked around and climbed into the van.

"I have to go potty," one of the SEALs in back commented. Phillip started the van and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Don't let them get to you. Don't let them get to you.'

"You're all going to pay when this mission is over," Phillip hissed.

(:ii:)

Spades peeked around the corner and stepped into the empty hallway. He mentally ran over Johnny's directions and glanced at the eighth door on the left.

The door wasn't locked and Spades carefully pushed it open. The men inside looked up and Spades fired. All but one dropped. The lone man stared at Shinji. "Funny running into you here."

"Could you repeat that?" Yuuske asked. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of me shitting myself."

"I noticed that these NERV security boys seem a little under gunned," Spades commented. Yuuske grinned and tugged a small plastic card from one of the pockets of his tac vest.

"I wonder why." He turned and ran the card through the reader. The massive metal door swung open and Yuuske stepped inside. "You want a rifle?"

"Not unless I have to," Spades replied.

"Machinegun?"

"Not my style," Spades stated.

"Shotgun?" Spades paused and stepped into the armory. Yuuske had already unlocked one of the sleek black semi-autos from its mooring.

"Oh yeah." Shinji took the 12-gauge beast and ran an appraising eye over it. Not as nice as Mary, but still a damn fine weapon. "Shells?"

"Here you go." Shinji loaded the weapon and slung it over his shoulder. He shoved as many more shells as he could into the pockets of his vest. "And here's your snubby." Shinji took the snub nose .45 gratefully and tucked it into the pocket of his coat after verifying that it was loaded.

"Thanks. What are you going to tell NERV?" Spades asked.

"I'll tell them you ran out of ammo," Yuuske replied. "Hopefully when I come to, there won't be a NERV." Spades closed his fist and heard his knuckles pop loudly.

"Here's praying." He swung and Yuuske dropped like a rock. Spades peaked out into the hallway and un-slung the shotgun. Things were looking up for Spades Ikari. "Now which way do I go?" Things were looking up while going further down.

(:ii:)

"Here we are," Misato stated as she drove aboard the train lift.

"Fancy," Philip commented as he looked around. "Cock and lock boys." The sound of a dozen automatic weapons being cocked filled the small space of the van.

"Don't forget," Misato stated, "when we get to the checkpoint let me do all the talking."

"Not a problem," Phillip replied. It really wasn't, after all; he didn't speak a word of Japanese.

(:ii:)

Phillip drove off the car train and pulled to a stop at the security checkpoint. He rolled down his window and frowned as one of the guards shined a light in his face. "Hey guys!" Misato exclaimed with a smile.

"Lieutenant Colonel!" Both men immediately saluted. "Go right on through."

"Thanks," Misato called as Phillip pulled through the gate. He got out of view of the booth and stopped.

"Mac? Chuck?"

"On it Commander," Mac replied. He pulled open the side door of the van and disappeared along with Chuck. Phillip pulled into a parking space and put the van in park.

"Now we wait."

"Anybody know how to play pea knuckle?" Misato asked.

"Nobody knows how to play pea knuckle," one of the SEALs in back commented.

"I know how to play pea knuckle," Phillip shot back.

(:ii:)

The lights flickered and Spades frowned. "You've got to be shitting me." The lights snapped off and Spades blinked in the absolute darkness. "Perfect."

The emergency lights snapped on and bathed the hallway in an eerie red light. So distracted was Spades, that he rounded the next corner without checking. A shotgun roared to life and Spades leapt back behind cover, his right hand bleeding slightly from where bits of metal had managed to cut through the thick skin. "Shit!"

"Cease fire!" someone barked. Spades stared at his hand and at the twisted metal that had been Melody. Before he had been mad. Spades reached into his pocket and pulled out his snubby. That was just going too far. They had pushed him too fucking far.

"Eight," Spades hissed, leaning against the wall. He swung out and fired. The .45-caliber slug tore through the lead man's throat and into another man's head, taking them both down.

Spades was behind cover before the others could react. He tucked Melody carefully into her holster. He and the man with the shotgun were now almost even. He had destroyed Melody and Spades had destroyed his jugular.

(:ii:)

Phillip watched as the lights flickered and went out. "Move!" He climbed out of the van with his suppressed sub-machinegun ready. The other members of the SEAL team climbed out as well. "See you later ma'am."

"Make sure you come back here with Shinji," Misato stated.

"That's the job." Phillip flashed a series of hand signals to his men and they formed up in a single stack with the ease of men who had done this a million times before.

(:ii:)

Spades stepped out from behind his shelter and stared at the bodies littering the ground. "We're even." He reached into his pocket and dug out a handful of shells, which he began to load his shotgun with.

Spades started past the bodies, but paused. He stared at the body of the leader, the man who had destroyed Melody. There was a rather interesting weapon holstered on his belt. Spades kneeled and tugged the pistol free. "A Mateba Model Six." Shinji cast a sidelong glance at the corpse and snapped the auto revolver's cylinder open. "Now I owe you one." Spades stated, counting the six massive .454 Casull rounds. "Thanks." He unsnapped the holster from the man's belt and unclipped Melody's holster.

He was feeling a little better now.

(:ii:)

"What the hell is going on?" Gendo demanded. "Are we under attack?"

"Unknown," one of the techs reported. "Christ. What the hell is wrong with the backup generators?"

"They've been hacked," another tech answered. "They must have planned this out way in advance. No one can get through our firewalls on short notice. Can they?"

"Not without access codes," Ritsuko stated. "Do you think that it's a rescue attempt?"

"We have to assume," Kozo stated. "We've also lost touch with many of the units dispatched to find the Third Child." Gendo scowled. There was a traitor in his midst. There was no other explanation for it.

"Where is Colonel Katsuragi?"

"She's at her home," Kozo replied.

"Deploy Section-2 agents to her apartment," Gendo ordered. "Bring her in."

"Very well."

(:ii:)

Spades glanced into the next hallway and stepped carefully out from behind the corner. He was so fucking lost. "This is a problem." He glanced around the red light bathed hallway and tried to puzzle out where just where the hell he was.

Then the hallway began to look familiar. "No way." Spades pushed open one the swinging doors and glanced inside. It was the Evangelion pilots' locker room. "I'll be damned."

"Hello?" Shinji turned and stared at the female silhouetted against the dividing wall. She pushed the divider aside and Spades found himself staring at a nude Rei Ayanami. "Pilot Ikari?"

"Things are looking up," Spades commented. He raised the Mateba and drew a bead on Rei's impassive face. "I have some questions for you."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. I'm so damn tired. Trench coat. . .check. Wide-brimmed hat. . .check. Quick draw Colt Single Action Army .45-caliber. . .check. I've turned Shinji into a cowboy. Oh my God. . .check.


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Happy Coincidences

I don't own anything. This chapter goes out to that cool old couple who gave me a jump so I could get home. Thanksa lot!

Detective Ikari

-Chapter Seventeen: Happy Coincidences

Rei stared at the man standing across the locker room. "I have some questions for you."

"How did you get out of the detention block?" Rei asked. NERV security was perfect. Escapes were impossible without outside assistance.

"It involves the Mob and a bunch of dead guys," Shinji stated. "My turn. Why the fuck is Commander Ikari after me." Rei stared at the man, the Commander had given no specific orders not to tell his son, but she felt that he would be most angry if she did. "Don't make me hurt you Ayanami."

"You are threatening me."

"That's right Ayanami," Shinji stated. "Why is Commander Ikari after me?"

"He is in need of your skills," Rei stated.

"The Angels are dead," Shinji stated. "Besides, he has you to pilot the Evas."

"I am unable to pilot Evangelion Unit Zero-One," Rei stated.

"Alright," Shinji replied. "Why not Asuka then?"

"She is unimportant," Rei stated. "She does not possess your abilities and she also is unable to pilot Unit Zero-One."

"What's so important about that Eva?"

"I cannot tell you," Rei stated. She did have very specific orders to never explain the scenario.

"I see," Shinji stated. He lowered the pistol he was carrying and tucked it into the holster on his hip. He drew a knife from his waist. "You're going to tell me Ayanami. I really don't like hurting people, but I am very good at it." Rei drew back, feeling a new emotion race through her. She was suddenly quite terrified of the droopy-eyed man before her.

(:ii:)

Spades stormed out of the locker room. He felt sick. He also felt extremely pissed. His mother, that bitch who had left him in the care of his father, had been a brilliant woman. Absolutely nil people skills, made apparent by her choice in husband, but brilliant none the less.

She didn't deserve to have her memory polluted by that bastard. Spades wouldn't allow it. If Gendo did manage to make her return, Spades was fairly certain she would kill herself upon witnessing what he had done to her research. Well, she would if she was any kind of decent person.

Then there was the fact that Gendo wanted Spades to start the Third Impact. He was fucking insane if he thought Spades was going to destroy the world. He rather liked it the way it was, despite its many faults.

"Freeze!" Spades fired from the hip, taking down the five people who had tried to confront him as he rounded the corner. They all went down, most dead, but some alive. It didn't matter. They'd all be dead soon enough.

"Stupid shits." Spades snapped his new weapon's cylinder open and plucked out the spent .454 Casull rounds. He stared at the last round and tucked it into his coat before loading it with his .45 Colt rounds. He'd save that bullet for a special occasion

(:ii:)

"We're being engaged."

"How many of them are there?" the technician demanded.

"We can't. . ." The voice on the radio became a scream as several loud pops were sent across.

"We've lost touch with fire team Delta sir," the technician reported. "They were deployed on the eighth sub-level in search of the Third Child."

"We just lost touch with fire team Echo on the twelfth sub-level sir," another technician reported. "They were sent to secure Ayanami's location." Gendo turned and stared at the person who had spoken. "We should deploy several teams to check on her sir."

"What should we do Gendo?" Kozo asked quietly.

"I don't know, damn it," Gendo hissed. "This is why we keep Katsuragi around here. What should we do Sensei?"

"Deploy fire teams Whiskey and Gulf to assess the First Child's condition," Kozo ordered. "The loss of team Echo was on the twelfth sub-level you said?"

"That's right sir," the technician reported.

"That's only two floors above us," Kozo stated quietly. "Perhaps you should go to you office Gendo."

"Yes," Gendo agreed.

"Call fire teams Foxtrot, Charlie, and Hotel," Kozo ordered. "They will escort the Commander to his office and defend him

there."

(:ii:)

Shinji paused as he heard a burst of suppressed machinegun fire come bouncing off the walls. "The SEALs. Fuck." Spades reloaded his shotgun and glanced down at the dead men on the floor as he counted the shells he still had.

Twelve shells, thirty rounds of .45 Colt, and one .454 Casull bullet. After that it was knife and fist time. Spades was already rather sore; he wasn't looking forward to hand-to-hand combat.

Spades looked around the hallways, desperately trying to gain his bearings. It had been years since he had walked these halls and even then it was always to the same group of places. Spades hesitated. He might be able to find his way to the command center. That sounded like a good a place as any to start.

(:ii:)

Rei stared at the ceiling overhead. The coppery, distasteful smell of LCL clung to the room. It took her a few moments to decide that it was her own blood and not LCL that she smelled.

Rei sat up and gasped as pain radiated from the wounds across her body. She examined them and frowned. None of them were fatal and only one still bled. She was rather confused. Was not the purpose of torture to so weaken an enemy that they would not be able to retaliate?

"I really don't like hurting people." He had said that, but Rei had denied any truth in it. He had terrified her. She had been unable to believe that he didn't wish her harm. Now as she examined the wounds she was forced to rethink.

His. . .style was so different from the Commander, yet they acted almost identically. The younger Ikari took no pleasure from his actions. Rei knew the Commander enjoyed interrogations immensely. He was a savage and brutal man, yet physically and mentally weaker then his son.

"Miss Ayanami?"

"I am here," Rei stated. The door opened a young woman in black combat gear stepped inside.

"You're hurt."

"Not badly," Rei replied. "These wounds will heal."

(:ii:)

"This way Commander." Spades froze. He heard footsteps and spooned up against the wall as close he could. He glanced around the corner, yet again. These winding hallways were repetitive, but provided good cover.

Halfway down the next hall was a group of men. Spades could tell from the way they were walking that they were protecting someone. Ironically they were using the same formation that Spades had learned from a bodyguard school in Washington. Maybe he had trained with them.

"Stranger shit happens all the time to me," he muttered. He caught sight of a bearded man as they rounded a corner. Spades grinned. This would be fun. He would kill them all and corner the Commander. Spades fingered the knife on his belt.

Shinji's frowned. He dug his watch out of his coat and glanced at it. He hadn't had his pills in two days. "Well, shit." They shouldn't have kept him away from his pills. He was a much nicer and less violent person on them.

(:ii:)

Phillip peaked around the next corner and swung out into the hallway. He leveled a long burst from his sub-machinegun into the soldiers and watched them drop. "Move!" Phillip hissed, gesturing down the hallway.

"We have two more floors to go before we reached the Command center sir," one of the SEALs reported.

"Right," Phillip replied. "Let's hope we can get some answers there."

(:ii:)

"Hey buddy." Calvin Roget spun around. He stared at the man standing silhouetted against the red emergency lights. In the blink of an eye he was gone.

"Boss!"

"What?"

"There's someone there!" Calvin stated, keeping his assault rifle leveled at the hallway the man had run down.

"Roget and Hinder. Check it!" the Boss ordered. Calvin and Hinder sprinted forward. Calvin pushed his back to the wall and pivoted around the corner after the man.

"Empty," Hinder commented.

"I saw him," Calvin growled.

"This lighting is a little confusing. . ."

"I saw him," Calvin growled. He stared down the hallway. It was too long for him to have reached the corner in such a short amount of time and there were no doors for him to duck into.

"What's happening?" the Boss demanded.

"It's clear Boss," Hinder stated. He lowered his rifle. "Come on man." He turned and walked back.

"I saw something," Calvin grumbled as he turned. A soft noise reverberated throughout the hallway. "How. . ."

"Humans tend not to look up," the low voice replied. Something cold pressed against the back of Calvin's skull. "Bye."

"Yeah," Calvin replied, too numb to think of anything else.

(:ii:)

Gene "Boss" Valentine spun as a gunshot echoed throughout the hallway. "Calvin!"

"Hinder!" Gene barked, but it was too late. The young man was sprinting for the hallway they had searched. He rounded the corner and a staccato burst tore through the relative silence. Hinder was knocked back against the wall as the bullets tore into his chest. Suddenly the muzzle of an automatic rifle poked around the corner and fired.

Gene realized, too late, that the assailant was aiming for the unprotected shins and feet of his soldiers. The first row, six men in all, dropped like flies and absorbed the last of the rounds in the enemy's assault rifle. "Retreat!" Gene roared.

"The men. . ."

"We have a job to do!" Gene bellowed. "Get the Commander out of here! Go!" His men took off for the Commander's office and Gene dropped to his belly. He rested his rifle, with a silent prayer for forgiveness, on the body of one of his fallen soldiers. As the echo of the footsteps died away, Gene waited.

A dark shape burst from the corner, but Gene held his fire. He watched the coat flutter to the ground and aimed carefully. He was up against a smart bastard.

Suddenly a human leapt out and Gene fired. His rifle rattled to life and body pirouetted in midair. Then another person leaned out into the hallway. Gene could only watch as the massive weapon in the man's hand kicked.

(:ii:)

Spades stepped out into the hallway, quite sure that there were no more enemies. He glanced down at the bullet-riddled body of his first victim. He had been heavy and Spades thought he had pulled something throwing the man into the hallway.

"Thanks." Spades picked up his coat and winced as his shoulder gave a particularly painful twinge. "Could do with a diet though." Spades pulled on his coat and stared down the hallway, un-slinging the shotgun from his shoulder.

"Help me." Spades glanced down. Most of the soldiers were dead; after all, Spades was an excellent shot. One soldier stared at him. "Please help me." Spades glanced at his legs. They were torn to pieces and the way the blood was pumping. . .well. . .it wasn't good.

"You're dead pal," Spades stated. "Sorry about the slow death thing." Spades drew his old Smith and Wesson snubby. "I'll fix that right now for you."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Ah yes, Spades is an extreme asshole, but is it only on the outside? Could there be a method to his madness? Maybe. After this arch this story is going on hiatus to give me a chance to work on my other ones.


	18. Chapter Eighteen: A New Beginning

I don't own anything.

Detective Ikari

-Chapter Eighteen: A New Beginning

Spades peaked around the corner and stared down the hallway. It looked empty enough. He reached into one of the pockets of his coat and pulled out one of the grenades he had taken from one of the soldiers. He tugged the pin and lobbed the explosive down the hallway before ducking behind the corner.

"Grenade!" Spades winced as the flash bang went off sending a rippling series of cracks through the hallways. Spades pivoted out with his pistol up. One man was staggering in the middle of the hall. Spades fired once and put the man down.

Another man dropped out of his hiding place and fired. Fortunately the effects of the flash bang kept him from aiming strait. Spades fired again and the second man went down. Spades leaned back and snapped open his weapon. He tugged the two spent .45 cartridges out and loaded two new ones. He was getting close.

"Freeze!" Spades turned and stared at the men filling the hallway. "Are you Shinji Ikari?"

"What?" Spades asked, faltering slightly. He had been about to draw.

"Are you Shinji Ikari?" the man in front asked.

"Yeah," Spades replied. "SEALs, right?"

"Uh, yeah," the man replied.

"Okay." Spades drew and fired. The SEALs ducked around the corner and he lobbed another flash bang at them.

(:ii:)

"He fucking shot at us!"

"I was there," Phillip snapped. He ears were still ringing. "Damn that hurt!"

"Did he think we worked for NERV?" Mac asked.

"No way," Chuck growled. "He knew who we were and he shot at us!"

"Doesn't he know we're trying to rescue him?" Domino asked.

"Maybe he doesn't want to be rescued," Grim suggested.

"Well, why the hell not?" Mac demanded. Phillip frowned as his thoughts were back to his briefing. They had said that Ikari was hostile and to be careful. They had also mentioned that he had a bone to pick with a lot of NERV's personnel.

"He couldn't," Phillip groaned.

"What's up sir?" Chuck asked.

"He's going after his old man," Phillip stated.

"Isn't his old man the commander here?" Spider asked. Phillip nodded. "Kid's got balls."

"Try not to sound so happy," Phillip growled. "We've still got to catch him."

(:ii:)

"Here we are," Johnny stated, climbing out of the car. He looked around the large airfield and the heavily guarded C-5 in front of him. "Well, that's a big plane."

"When is Shinji going to be here?" Amber demanded.

"When he's done," Johnny replied. "He shouldn't be much longer?"

"When he's done?" Amber exclaimed. "What the hell does he need to do?"

"Finish at NERV of course," Johnny replied. "He isn't going to leave the city and let them get away with kidnapping him."

I should have known," Amber grumbled. "This is your fault."

"My fault?" Johnny demanded.

"You gave him Melody!" Amber shrieked.

"You let him get kidnapped!" Johnny yelled back.

(:ii:)

Spades shoved his shoulder into the wall and fired several shots around the corner with his snubby. These delay tactics were slowing him down, which meant they were good delay tactics. They were also costing him much needed ammunition.

Spades loaded his snubby and then the Mateba. He only had five .45 rounds so he loaded the .454 into the last chamber. "Come out and surrender Ikari."

"Must be running low of men," Shinji mused as he dug his glasses out of his vest. "I'll think about it!" he called to the men as he slid his glasses on.

As fast as he could he leaned out into the hallway with the snubby. There were three men the closest only three yards away and the furthest was twelve. Spades was out and shooting before they could react. All three politely slumped to the ground.

Spades stepped into the hallway and pushed his glasses back into his coat pocket. He glanced around the new hallway and felt a rush of déjà vu. Yes, he was getting closer to the commander's office. He had been led through these halls and shackles once or twice and knew them well.

(:ii:)

"Report! I said report!" Donnie Jansport frowned, as he got no reply over the radio.

"Your team has been wiped out Sergeant," one of the bosses up in the control bridge stated. Donnie really hadn't needed to be told that. He had already figured it out.

"Thank you Lieutenant Obvious!" Donnie snapped. He glanced around the Commander's office. This was no good. They were backed into a corner. "Do you have an escape route sir?"

"Yes," Gendo replied. Donnie nodded thoughtfully.

"Use it and escape. We'll make our stand here."

"Very well," Commander Ikari replied. He walked to his desk and did something that caused a hidden door in the wall to swing open.

"You sure about this?" one of the men whispered. "I'm not being paid enough to be a sacrificial lamb. That guy's still coming. We ain't going to stop him."

"I know," Donnie rasped quietly. "We took the money, now we've got to work. We run away now and our reputations will be trashed. We'll never get work again."

"That guy's got us by the balls." The Commander disappeared into the doorway and it closed behind him. Almost at the same moment of the door burst open. Donnie hit the deck hard as a gray cylinder flew into the room.

(:ii:)

Spades looked around the room and slowly straightened up. He had been quick enough to catch them by surprise. "Oh shit." Spades pivoted and found himself aiming at a man lying on the ground. "How did you get here so fast?"

"There weren't any more guys," Spades stated. The man leaned back and groaned in pain as he clutched his abdomen.

"Those fuckers deserted," he growled. "Shit!"

"Where'd the old man go?" Spades asked. The man sighed.

"There's a button in the desk," he stated.

"Thanks," Spades replied, faintly surprised by the man's answer.

"Don't," the man growled. "This is because that fucker has killed a lot of men through his mismanagement."

"Alright." Spades knocked the man's weapon away carefully and moved to the desk. He tried the drawers and found the button. He pushed it and watched as a door in the wall swung open. "I'm not even surprise anymore." Shinji holstered his stubbie, it was empty anyway, and drew the Mateba. He scribbled a note quickly and set it on the desk before walking into the hidden passes.

(:ii:)

Grim raised his sub-machinegun and glanced back at his boss. Phillip nodded and Grim swung into the room, moving to his station quickly. "Clear!"

"Clear!" Grim glanced down and frowned.

"Party's over sir."

"Check 'em," Phillip ordered. Grim kneeled and checked the pulse of the man lying at his feet.

"Nothing."

"Same here."

"All dead," Spider agreed.

"Note sir," Domino commented.

"Note?" Phillip asked. Domino picked a piece of paper up from the desk.

"Push the button, squid. Love, Spades." Domino peeked behind the desk.

"Button?" Phillip asked.

"Yep," Domino stated. "It's in one of the drawers. Kinda cliché."

"Yeah," Grim agreed.

"Just push it," Phillip ordered.

"You know how I love pushing your buttons."

"Just push the God damned button!"

(:ii:)

Spades could hear the old man. He was running, probably all out, but the simple fact was that Spades was in better shape. The commander could not outrun him. A speck of light appeared at the end of the tunnel and Spades saw a flash of a silhouette. In an instant he had jammed his glasses on and was kneeling, bringing the Mateba to bear.

In that short moment the commander had escaped from Spades' vision. "Damn it." Spades stood and sprinted towards the opening, thinking little of his own safety. He burst from them tunnel into the forest surrounding Central Dogma. For a moment the sudden change disoriented him, but he got his bearings and saw a flash of a green uniform.

Spades lifted the Mateba and fired, the massive 250-grain slug burst from the barrel at five hundred and eighty meters per second and slammed into the tree that had passed between Spades and his moving target.

For a moment Spades wondered if he had missed, but a low groan of pain reached his ears. With a savage grin, Spades sprinted towards the noise. The realization that he hadn't checked the ammo in the Mateba froze him in his tracks. A quick check revealed the worst, he was shit out of ammo. Spades holstered the Mateba and began forward much more cautiously while drawing his knife.

(:ii:)

The Commander of NERV was sprawled across the ground, clutching at his shattered shoulder. Spades was mildly surprised that the arm was still attached. "Well," Spades began, "I don't know about you, but I find this rather humorous." The Commander rolled over and glared at Spades.

"You."

"Me," Spades agreed, taking his glasses off and knocking the commander on his back with a hard kick. The kneeled and pulled the Commander's weapon out from under his arm.

"I suppose you want to know why I pursued you," the commander stated.

"I already ran into Ayanami," Spades stated, flicking a dry red flake off his knife. For a moment the commander's eyes widened.

"I see," Gendo stated. "It's a shame you weren't like this when we met in Tokyo-3."

"If I was like this, I wouldn't have shown up," Spades stated. "I really don't care about any reason you think you have for behaving this way, I can even understand your actions because I would have made many of the same decisions."

"There will be more after me," Gendo stated. "You are more useful then you could ever guess."

"A warning?" Spades asked. "I'm touched."

"I only warn you in the hopes that you will be able to kill a few of them before you die," Gendo stated.

"Who are they?" Spades asked.

"You will find out." Spades frowned in annoyance.

"And on that note. . ." Spades trailed off and raised his knife.

(:ii:)

"Weirder and weirder man."

"Shut up Alice."

"I'm just saying. . ."

"Don't," Phillip warned. He looked around the forest and sighed. As if this day couldn't get stranger. Then there was the fact that they were in a brightly-lit forest wearing black combat gear.

"Here!" Phillip sprinted towards the cry and came upon a fairly disturbing scene. Mac was standing over Shinji Ikari, his hands raised. Shinji glanced at them for a moment.

"Drop the weapon!" Phillip snapped.

"Doesn't matter." Ikari snapped pushed the cylinder release and it swung outward to reveal six empty chambers.

"You just got taken prisoner with an empty weapon," Spider commented as Ikari holstered his weapon and stood.

"Wasn't waving it around like it was empty," Mac growled. "You gonna come quietly this time."

"Yeah," Ikari stated. "I've finished with my business." He pointed behind a few bushes. Phillip glanced behind the bushes and gagged.

"You're one sick mother fucker."

"I haven't had my pills," Ikari stated. "You guys have a ride?"

"It's in the parking garage," Phillip answered. "Be easier if you told the driver to meet us by the east four elevator. Its right over there." Phillip glanced in the direst Ikari was pointing.

"Good deal."

(:ii:)

"They have him!" Amber glanced up and saw Johnny walking towards her.

"They have him?" she repeated. The hit man nodded.

"They should be here in less than the minute," he stated. "Spades passed out, but it looks like it was just exhaustion."

"It take it his father is dead, right?" Amber asked.

"The CO for the SEAL team said Spades Pezzed him."

"What?" Amber asked. "Wait. I don't want to know, do I?"

"Nope," Johnny stated. He glanced at the other two women.

"We'll be taking off quick," he stated. "I'm not even sure you'll be able to talk to Spades, but if you do you'll have to be fast."

"Alright," Hikari replied.

"Yeah," Asuka agreed.

(:ii:)

The van jerked to a halt and Spades snapped out of his half-dazed slumber. "We're here," one of the SEALs stated as the van's doors opened. Spades climbed out quickly. He was used to 'bad' driving, but could only handle it when it was his own.

"Spades!" He glanced up in time to see his boss jumping at him. Mainly due to his size compared to hers he didn't fall on his ass, though he nearly did when she kissed him.

"Knew you wasn't gay." Spades broke away from the younger woman.

"I'm out of bullets Johnny, but I do have a knife."

"Shutting up," Johnny replied. "Here comes the rest of your fan club." Spades turned and saw Hikari and Asuka walking towards him.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We were worried about you," Hikari stated. Spades glanced at Asuka with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't you give me that look idiot," she warned.

"Sorry."

"Asuka put us in contact with Misato," Amber explained.

"Misato?"

"You rang?" Spades turned and saw the driver from the van. She grabbed him in a tight hug. "You should have told me you were coming back!"

"We have to go!" Spades glanced at the Navy man waving them towards the van. He turned back to Hikari and Asuka.

"Amber gave us your number," Asuka stated before Shinji could talk. "I hear you do bodyguard business." Spades nodded. "I do believe I have a tour in American coming up. I'll check your rates." She shook his hand and stepped back.

"I was going on visiting American some time," Hikari said.

"Don't be a stranger," Shinji replied. "Take care and give me a call when you get there." Hikari hugged him and Spades turned to Misato.

"She's coming with us," Amber stated.

"She is?" Spades asked.

"Meet the newest member of Young Private Investigations," Amber stated.

"Nice to meet you," Misato added jokingly.

"We go to a foreign country and come back with a woman," Spades commented. "We're never going to hear the end of it."

"In the plane now!" the lead SEAL shouted. Spades followed Misato and Amber up the stairs and into the place, pausing to wave to Hikari and Amber.

"Told you you'd have fun," Amber commented.

"I tore out my father's throat," Spades deadpanned.

"Beats having to wait all that time for him to die of natural causes, doesn't it?" Spades paused for a moment.

"Why yes, yes it does."

-End

(:ii:)

-Author's notes. Well, this was fun. For some reason this story seemed to go by faster and cleaned than my others. This chapter actually took as long as about the fast half of the story because of writer's block.

I really don't have much to say about this story. It was fun and breezy without too much of the over thinking that happens with some of my stories. I think this is because I wrote about seven chapters before I released this one. That seemed to have worked so well that I'm doing most of my stories like that.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. Now here's a little something for reading this far. Don't expect it any time soon, but it will be coming.

Detective Ikari 2 (working title)

Misato looked up as the door to the office opened and Spades stepped in. "How is she?" Amber asked.

"She's critical," Spades stated flatly.

"What are we going to do?" Misato asked.

"Private detecitve arithmetic," Tim stated.

"What's private detective arithmetic?" Misato asked.

"They hurt one of ours," Al began, "we kill ten of theirs.The cops don't like those UN guys. They won't interfere."

"Good," Spades stated quietly. Amber stood up and made her way over to a large bookcase against the wall. She kicked it hard and Misato gaped as it swung open to reveal a hidden room. A light snapped on to reveal dozens of gleaming automatic weapons.

"Pick your poisons," Amber ordered. "Nobody ever messes with a Young private detective."

"Got mine," Freddie stated, picking up something from behind Helen's desk. He set the massive rifle on the secretary's desk and patted it lovingly.

"You've been looking for that thing for a month," Mike stated. "Where did you find it?"

"Spades' trunk," Freddie stated.

"What were you doing in my car?" Spades asked.

"What was my rifle doing in your car?" Freddie retorted.

"Deer hunting," Spades deadpanned.

"With an anti-tank rifle?"

"Big dear," Spades stated. "Get some autos. We're doing a drive by."

"On who?" Misato asked. "We don't know where they are!"

"But we know who's helping them," Spades stated. "Time to take care of some loose ends."

-End


End file.
